Design, Detail and Devine Purpose
When you look at nature, you don’t see randomness. You see design. You see precision. You see purpose-built systems and flawless execution.
God did not make any mistakes at the point of creation and there are no mistakes in nature. The purpose, function and detail that exists within nature is so perfect that man has now started to duplicate certain aspects of it in science, technology, manufacturing and building.
Biomimicry: Nature-Inspired Innovation
Biomimicry is the practice of learning from and emulating nature’s designs, systems, and strategies to solve human challenges in sustainable and innovative ways. The term comes from the Greek words bios (life) and mimesis (imitation), and it refers to the intentional study of nature’s models to inspire engineering, design, architecture, medicine, and even social systems.
Unlike traditional approaches that often try to “improve on” nature, biomimicry starts from the belief that nature has already solved many of the problems we face—efficient structures, energy production, waste management, self-healing materials, and cooperative systems—that already exist. In other words, the natural world is a vast, time-tested laboratory of innovation.
There are three levels of biomimicry:
Form or structure – mimicking natural shapes or patterns. For example, Velcro was inspired by the tiny hooks on burrs that stuck to a dog’s fur.
Process – replicating how something works in nature. The efficient cooling of termite mounds, for instance, has inspired passive cooling systems in buildings.
System – modelling whole ecosystems where nothing is wasted, and everything is interconnected. Circular economy models often draw from this systems-level thinking.
The Tokyo Rail System Slime Mould Experiment
Scientists wanted to test how efficiently nature could solve complex problems—specifically, whether a simple organism could replicate or even improve upon human-designed systems like Tokyo’s extensive rail network.
They took a type of slime mould (a single-celled amoeba-like organism) called Physarum polycephalum. This organism has no brain, nervous system, or centralized intelligence. Yet it can sense, adapt, and optimize its network to survive and thrive. It grows by sending out tendrils to explore its environment and then reinforces the most efficient and cost-effective routes to connect food sources.
Researchers from Japan and the UK created a map of the Tokyo metropolitan area. Oat flakes were placed on the map to represent major cities and suburban railway stations, with Tokyo in the centre. Slime mould was introduced at the "Tokyo" point and allowed to grow freely toward the oat flakes (the “stations”).
The slime mould grew out toward each oat flake, initially in all directions. Over time, it retracted and reinforced only the most efficient, shortest, and resilient connections—prioritising simplicity, speed, and adaptability.
The final network created by the slime mould closely mirrored Tokyo’s actual rail system—designed by human engineers over decades and in some cases, the slime mould found more efficient routes than the existing network. Here is the amazing thing about this experiment…it took 28 hours for the Physarum polycephalum to form its optimal network. Only 28 hours for a slimy bit of mould that has no brain, nervous system, or centralized intelligence to replicate and optimise one of the most complex rail networks in the world.
This experiment challenged the assumption that complex infrastructure must be built by complex machines or minds and had applications beyond Tokyo. It inspired urban planning, transportation engineering, computer science, and network optimization. Similar experiments have been conducted to mimic road systems in UK, Germany, and Mexico, with similar results.
The slime mould didn’t try to be clever. It didn’t fight its design. It just did what it was wired to do: seek the most efficient connection, preserve energy, avoid waste, and stay alive.
And the result? A system so intelligently constructed; it humbled some of the most sophisticated transport engineers in the world.
It reinforced the idea that nature’s design is not just beautiful—it’s brilliant!
Some more examples of Biomimicry
Biomimicry is now an entire field of science devoted to studying the brilliance, design, and intelligence woven into creation—and learning how to apply those God-given patterns and principles to solve human problems. It’s about looking at the way nature works and recognizing the wisdom built into it.
Biomimicry has become a powerful tool in modern innovation, drawing inspiration from nature’s time-tested solutions to solve human challenges. An iconic example is Japan’s Shinkansen bullet train. Engineers faced a serious problem: the train created a disruptive sonic boom when exiting tunnels. The solution came from the kingfisher bird, which dives into water with barely a splash. By redesigning the train’s nose to mimic the kingfisher’s beak, they significantly reduced noise, improved energy efficiency, and even increased speed.
Another breakthrough comes from the lotus leaf, known for its natural self-cleaning ability due to microscopic surface structures that repel water and dirt. This “lotus effect” inspired self-cleaning paints, fabrics, and glass, now widely used in architecture and automotive design.
The termite mound has also shaped green building practices. Termite mounds in Africa maintain stable internal temperatures despite extreme outside heat, thanks to a complex natural ventilation system. This led to passive cooling designs in structures like Zimbabwe’s Eastgate Centre, reducing the need for air conditioning.
The structure of shark skin—covered in tiny, tooth-like scales—has inspired antibacterial hospital surfaces and drag-reducing swimsuits.
Spider silk, known for its incredible strength and flexibility, has become the model for lightweight yet durable synthetic fibres used in military and medical applications.
These examples show that nature is not only beautiful but brilliantly efficient. From transportation to textiles, architecture to medicine, biomimicry continues to unlock solutions by copying what God’s creation already perfected.
Rather than inventing from scratch, scientists and designers are increasingly learning to listen—to creation’s wisdom, to the design beneath the surface—and in doing so, they’re discovering that nature doesn’t just survive… it thrives.
"And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made."
— Genesis 2:2
