Biomimicry shows promise for more than health care

By Ira Zunin

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Oct 13, 2012

~~<p>Back in the day, the survival of indigenous peoples depended on being attuned to nature and the environment. Hunting for food required knowledge of the patterns and behavior of prey on land and in the water. When gathering plants for food and medicine, one had to know where to find and when to pick the right specimens. Ancient cultures derived not only food, shelter, clothing and medicine from their environment, but also lessons in living. Careful observation of the movements of animals, for example, resulted in early developments in the martial arts as practitioners sought to emulate what they saw.</p>
<p>We began to lose our sensitivity to nature in the transition from life as hunter-gatherers to agrarian societies. Still, the farmer had to maintain an awareness of the weather and the soil to optimize crop yield and had to understand how to raise domesticated animals and protect them from wild predators.</p>
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Back in the day, the survival of indigenous peoples depended on being attuned to nature and the environment. Hunting for food required knowledge of the patterns and behavior of prey on land and in the water. When gathering plants for food and medicine, one had to know where to find and when to pick the right specimens. Ancient cultures derived not only food, shelter, clothing and medicine from their environment, but also lessons in living. Careful observation of the movements of animals, for example, resulted in early developments in the martial arts as practitioners sought to emulate what they saw.

We began to lose our sensitivity to nature in the transition from life as hunter-gatherers to agrarian societies. Still, the farmer had to maintain an awareness of the weather and the soil to optimize crop yield and had to understand how to raise domesticated animals and protect them from wild predators. Login for more...