Dinner@Dana: Copying Nature

Escape the city buzz and join us as we uncover some of nature’s secrets in an evening of Dinner@Dana.

You might regard humankind as the most intelligent life on our planet. But what about the stunning abilities of animals and plants? How can lizards hang from the smoothest surface by one toe? And how have lotus plants adapted to keep themselves clean?

Over millions of years of evolution, nature has come up with a myriad of ingenious engineering solutions so that plants and animals often seem perfectly adapted for their environment. It turns out we can learn a lot from biology – a number of new products and latest technologies have been inspired by the natural world.

Jonathan Wood, winner of FameLab 2006 and editor of Materials Today and Nano Today, demonstrates why he believes butterflies are the best optical engineers and why Spider-Man uses spider silk to swing between skyscrapers. He’ll also be exploring how sharks can help you break world records in the swimming pool.

Dinner@Dana is part of the Café Scientifique network. These Cafés provide a place for everyone to explore the latest ideas in science, technology and medicine. Meetings stay outside of the traditional academic context by creating a relaxed and informal atmosphere in which to discuss scientific issues. The night involves a talk and a question-and-answer session, interspersed with a two-course dinner (available to purchase in the d.café).

Event organised by:
Café Scientifique

Speakers

Jonathan Wood, FameLab winner 2006 and press officer at Oxford University

Facilitator: Anna-Katrin Bender