The word bionics is made up of the terms biology and technics, which means engineering in this context. The approach of combining biology and engineering is often also called biomimetics in English. As a scientific discipline, bionics aims at analyzing biological systems and transferring the underlying principles into technical implementations.The Bionics Competence Network BIOKON is an association of the most important research groups in the field of bionics in Germany. ... [Information of the supplier]
The competence network 'Plants as Concept Generators for Biomimetical Materials and Technologies' („Pflanzen als Ideengeber für Entwicklung biomimetischer Materialien und Technologien") at the University of Freiburg offers an interface between academic research and industrial applications. It was founded in November, 2002, in cooperation with the University of Tübingen and the ITV Denkendorf. It is supported and funded by the Ministry of Science, Research, and the Arts of the Federal State of Baden-Württemberg ('Ministerium für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kunst des Landes Baden-Württemberg'). ... [Information of the supplier]
The aim of this project is to develop a better understanding of the structure and homeostatic function of termite mounds, with a view to identifying any lessons which can be learned, and ultimately applied, in human construction and habitation. This, in turn, will lead to a clearer definition of future research directions aimed at delivering some form of homeostasis for human constructions (for example, buildings which are self-regulating and requiring few or no mechanical services systems, and hence much-reduced energy usage). ... [Information of the supplier]
eQuilibrator is a simple web interface designed to enable easy thermodynamic analysis of biochemical systems. eQuilibrator enables free-text search for biochemical compounds and reactions and provides thermodynamic estimates for both in a variety of conditions. Estimation of thermodynamic parameters (ΔrG and ΔfG) elucidates how much energy is required to drive a particular biochemical reaction and in which direction the reaction will flow in particular cellular conditions. Because experimental measurement of the free energy of formation (ΔfG°) of compounds is technically challenging, the vast majority of known metabolites have not been thermodynamically characterized. eQuilibrator uses a well-studied approximation of ΔfG called group contribution, enabling thermodynamic analysis of many biochemical reactions and pathways. Currently, eQuilibrator can provide estimates for many compounds in the KEGG database(about 4500). Individual compounds and enzymes can be searched for by their common names ("water", "glucosamine", "hexokinase"), and reactions can be entered in a simple, free-text format ("ribulose bisphosphate + CO2 + water => 2 3-phosphoglycerate") that eQuilibrator parses automatically. eQuilibrator also allows manipulation of the conditions of a reaction - pH, ionic strength, and reactant and product concentrations - to help explore the thermodynamic landscape of a biochemical reaction. eQuilibrator is a project of the Milo Lab at the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot, Israel. ... [Information of the supplier]
