Introduction Spookfish live deep in the ocean where there is very little light Spookfish have specialized eyes that work as mirrors to help them to see Its eyes are split so that one half points up toward daylight and the other points down to the dark ocean depths This feature allows the fish to pick up low levels of light The mirrors aim the light down where possible meals are swimming by mirror A spookfish’s down-facing eyes use mirrors instead of lenses with hundreds of tiny crystals collecting and focusing light 4
brownsnout spookfish OCEANA 5
Looking up into the Atrium of the Fulton Center New York Architects have created buildings that use a similar method of bringing daylight into darkness The Fulton Center is an underground subway station and shopping center Its designers created a skylight surrounded by a net of stainless steel cables and aluminum panels The unique arrangement of the panels works to distribute beams of light throughout the day to the ground below The Fulton Center is an example of biomimicry in building 6
Biomimicry also called biomimetics involves the study of how functions are delivered in biology then translating those functions into designs that suit human needs Architects scientists and engineers involved in biomimicry have recognized that nature is the world’s largest science and engineering lab The designers deliberately mimicked the structure of a bird’s nest for the Beijing National Stadium They felt that a nest would embrace and nurture the people inside 7
