Bionic City

Biomimetics, Biotechnology & Biology for the Built Environment

By Melissa Sterry

Melissa Sterry
Mussels
What sticky sea creatures can teach us about making glue
ted.com - Jonathan Wilker
What if we could harness the sticking powers of sea creatures like mussels, oysters and barnacles, which refuse to budge even on wet, stormy …
January 24
Melissa Sterry
Taking a leaf out of plants’ books
chemistryworld.com - Nina Notman
We have created a global climate emergency and our reliance on fossil fuels is largely to blame. To save our planet, our global love affair with …
June 17
Melissa Sterry
Biographies
Lens of Time: Building a Butterfly Wing - bioGraphic
biographic.com
Spine Films is a San Francisco Bay Area production company specializing in international science, nature, environment, and arts media. They search …
Feb 15, 2017
Melissa Sterry
Biomimicry of Mangroves Teaches How to Improve Coastal Barriers
ansys.com - Keith Van de Riet
Along tropical coastlines, red mangrove trees are hard at work. They accumulate fortifying layers of mud and decaying plant matter, effectively …
March 6
Melissa Sterry
Nea Studio creates lamps from dried seaweed
dezeen.com - Kristine Klein
September 6
Melissa Sterry
Algae
Bio-ID Lab designs DIY algae-infused tiles that can extract toxic dyes from water
dezeen.com - Jennifer Hahn
September 17
Melissa Sterry
Government (UK)
UK government moves to end "vague and misleading" bioplastic terminology
dezeen.com - Marcus Fairs
September 25
Melissa Sterry
Bioplastic crafted from chickpea
buildingcentre.co.uk
Berlin-based designer Paula Nerlich has crafted a unique biomaterial from chickpeas. The material is derived from aquafaba — a viscous liquid …
July 22
Melissa Sterry
'The impact is tremendous': readers on wildflower verges
The Guardian - Guardian readers and Matthew Holmes
Catastrophic news for insect life has inspired communities and councils around the UK to take action, generating splashes of summer colour which hope to have a lasting impact. After reporting a campaign
July 18
Melissa Sterry
This New Algae Farm Makes Growing Green Superfood at Home a Snap
dwell - Duncan Nielsen
Rhode Island School of Design graduate Hyunseok An puts algae on the menu with a home farming kit. Did you know algae is a superfood? It's a single-cell protein packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants—and
June 19
Melissa Sterry
Junya Ishigami unveils rocky Serpentine Pavilion made out of slate
dezeen.com - Amy Frearson
June 18
Melissa Sterry
How one fern hoards toxic arsenic in its fronds and doesn’t die
sciencenews.org - Carolyn Wilke
To survive high levels of arsenic, a fern sequesters the heavy metal in its shoots with the help of three proteins.
June 4
Melissa Sterry
Could Trees Be the New Gravestones?
The New York Times - By NELLIE BOWLES
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — Death comes for all of us, but Silicon Valley has, until recently, not come for death. Who can blame them for the hesitation? The death services industry is heavily regulated and with
June 12
Melissa Sterry
Microbes from farms may protect children from asthma even in cities | New Scientist
newscientist.com - By Chelsea Whyte
Children who grow up on farms have a lower risk of developing asthma, and now it seems that may be due to microbes that can also be found in urban …
June 17
Melissa Sterry
This Creature Eats Stone. Sand Comes Out the Other End.
The New York Times - By VERONIQUE GREENWOOD
Lithoredo abatanica is an organism with an unusual appetite: This creature eats stone. And when it excretes, what comes out is sand, the leftovers of a still-mysterious digestion process. The mollusk,
June 18
Melissa Sterry
Design
GIY Maker Spotlight: Natalia Piórecka
grow.bio
Q: What first sparked your interest in the realm of mycology? A: I always had this interested in both the natural sciences and design. At the …
June 22
Melissa Sterry
Stuttgart
University of Stuttgart makes Urbach Tower from self-shaping wood
dezeen.com - Rima Sabina Aouf
June 6
Melissa Sterry
IKEA
IKEA launches homeware made from rice straw to help reduce India's smog problem
dezeen.com - Augusta Pownall
June 27
Melissa Sterry
The world’s most beautiful headphones are here, and they’re made of fungus
Fast Company - Mark Wilson
And other biomaterials such as bacteria and biosynthetic spider silk. The headphones are gorgeous. The headband glows in a Dieter Rams white. Chestnut-colored leather cups your ears. It’s hard to believe
May 28
Melissa Sterry
“In the city, we can see evolution happening on our streets, in real time”
thedeveloper.live
Isat down with Menno Schilthuizen, evolutionary biologist and author of When Darwin Comes to Town before his lecture for the UK Green Building Council …
May 8
Melissa Sterry
The green technologies that could save the world
DAZED - Dazed
Renewable, eco-friendly tech isn’t the stuff of futurist sci-fi – it already exists, and it’s time to make the switch away from deadly fossil fuels Imagine a future where your daily commute is powered
May 17
Melissa Sterry
The underground network of fungi and bacteria that connect and support trees ash been mapped for the first tim
interestingengineering.com - Jessica Miley
Underneath every group of trees and forest is a complex network of bacteria, fungi, and roots that the plants use to communicate and support each …
May 18
Melissa Sterry
BBC Radio 4 - The Five Faces of Leonardo, Leonardo's City
bbc.co.uk
Melissa Sterry, the design scientist behind the concept of Bionic City, visits Milan to discover the genius of Leonardo Da Vinci. For Melissa, the trip is as much about the legacy Leonardo has left to
April 30
Melissa Sterry
"Focusing on the transformation of bio-matter, this project explores the potential of sunflower leftovers to create new applications and prototypes embedded in sustainable, innovative production systems." #biomaterials https://t.co/pG2D12BTzt https://t.co/HBNAFxzMjD
"Focusing on the transformation of bio-matter, this project explores the potential of sunflower leftovers to create new and
Bionic City on Twitter
April 5
Melissa Sterry
Algae tiles turn walls into living water filtration systems
Fast Company - Katharine Schwab
A team of designers and engineers from University College London are trying to bring bioremediation to wall tiles. Up to 80% of India’s surface water is polluted, according to a 2015 report. But while
April 3
Melissa Sterry
Gardens by the Bay, Singapore, 7pm GMT, March 23rd 2079 #FutureInFlash https://t.co/8w2VUjIeCp
twitter.com
May 7
Melissa Sterry
Microsoft moves into biological computing with Station B
Financial Times - Clive Cookson
Microsoft will make a big move into biotechnology on Tuesday with the launch of a new research system that enables scientists to engineer living cells using machine learning and data analysis. The tech
March 12
Melissa Sterry
"La Fabrique du Vivant" exposition in Centre Pompidou features Glowing Nature!
vimeo.com
March 17