Wondering if they'll let us take a peek

Birds, amongst other animals, already see more than us puny simian mammals.
But, more and more, there are new entities glimpsing through the spectrum:
"Handheld device sees more colours than humans"

biovertigo

Where would you begin, if you wanted to set up a panorama of "bio everything" today?
Just merely attempting it is enough to make one dizzy...

Biomimetics (or bionics or even biomimicry or...) is fast becoming, or so it seems, an established field in its own right. It can also be understood as phenotropics. And what about synthetic biology? Check one of their wikis, for instance.

Is this going to affect material production, as we know and practice it, right away? Perhaps.

On nature and technique, part IX

It's the second time I refer to John Walker's site in this series, but "Seventh Industrial Revolution: Replicating Machines", part of a larger text and written back in 1990, is well worth checking out.

On nature and technique, part VIII

Everything Computes: an eminently readable essay by Peter Bentley. (there are many other good texts and relevant information in his site. He also authored and edited several books, such as this one)

On nature and technique, part VII

Maybe it is just me, but it seems that the amount of news regarding experiments and research that blur the distinctions or frontiers between the organic and the technical is growing a lot lately.

Roland Piquepaille writes about the first "bionic woman"; researchers at Princeton and the University of Cambridge are developing a stretchable electronic skin; and researchers at Harvard are working on hybrid structures of neurons and nanowires.


(Quote from this article: "The neurons grew on the chip and made connections with the nanowires". And these are only a few examples.)

On nature and technique, part VI

The theme of swarms deserves its own series around here (one of these days). But this project is too interesting to be left out of our current focus: Swarm-bots (pdf).
More info here.

(on a related note, I also like the shrimp)

On nature and technique, part V

Eugene Thacker is one of the few guides we may have when confronting the complex issues regarding what is usually called biotechnology, or, as he suggests, Biomedia.

His articles for C-Theory, such as "Biophilosophy for the 21st Century" are worth checking out, as well as the collective project "biotech hobbyist".

On nature and technique, part IV

An interesting interview with Daniel Dennett, by Hari Kunzru .

(warning: it will get more and more indigestible from this point onward. i'm so sorry)

On nature and technique, part III

"Recycling Recycling" by Mark Wigley.

(oldie but tremendously goodie. pdf version here)

On nature and technique, part II

"Revisiting The Natural Contract", by Michel Serres.

On nature and technique, part I

It's about time we start a series on this subject. Avoiding the typical cliches, prejudices and parochialisms that hinder a serious approach to the theme is difficult, but let's try...
(... this is going to be a long one...it would be great if it initiated a good discussion...)

"Computation, Memory, Nature, and Life" is a mind-boggling text by Autodesk founder John Walker, really, really worth reading.