nature Archives

Biomimicry: The imitation game

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Evolution has the advantage of millions of years of trial and error to refine nature’s designs; biomimetics uses nature as the source of inspiration for innovative design solutions to complex problems. The scope of opportunity offered by biomimicry is breathtaking – and the results are often beautiful. Here, we take a closer look at brilliant examples of biomimicry and the […]

Science education, new materialism, natural disaster, and the Anthropocene

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Catherine Milne researches science education in the Anthropocene, an era of environmental unravelling and natural disasters

Science education must adapt to new ways of thinking about how humans interact with the material world. That is the view of Catherine Milne, professor of science education at New York University in the US. In a new book, Dr Milne and co-authors argue that identification of the current human-centric ‘Anthropocene’ geological epoch, together with the many natural disasters the […]

Gene-environment interplay: A revolution for social science research?

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Drs van Kippersluis, von Hinke, Biroli and collaborators highlight and investigate the potential of using genetic data in order to understand the complexity of nature-nurture. The image shows a pregnant person snapping a cigarette.

Dr Hans van Kippersluis (Erasmus University Rotterdam), Dr Stephanie von Hinke (Bristol University; Erasmus University Rotterdam), and Dr Pietro Biroli (University of Bologna), argue that recent developments in genetic studies and data availability make a great addition to social science and economics research. They argue that the analysis of gene–environment interplay can help test economic theories, uncover economic or behavioural […]