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DATA & COMPUTINGData is a signal. Information is the meaning of the signal, and knowledge is the recognition of patterns inthat meaning. Intelligence—the ability to turn data into knowledge—has not been achieved in conventionalcomputing. Computers can calculate numerically but cannot learn or handle complex situations like livingorganisms do. Even human intelligence cannot match the continual design optimization of biological evolution.Many developers recognize the limits of conventional data handling and have mimicked nature to create novelsensors, computing architectures, software, autonomous robots, and other intelligent designs.INDUSTRIESBiotechnologyBuilding ConstructionBuilding SystemsData CentersElectronicsFinancial ServicesHealthcareHVAC & RefrigerationIndustrial MachineryOptics & ImagingPower Generation,Distribution & StorageSoftwareTelecommunicationSELECTED STRATEGIESSENSING & SIGNALINGMany species rapidly assess environments with remarkable sensing andsignaling mechanisms. Compound insect eyes, which perceive movementfaster than traditional cameras, have inspired vision sensors for aerialsystems and robotics. 76 Swarming bees, birds, ants, and bacteria signalto one another to coordinate movement, food gathering, and dangeravoidance, forming a collective intelligence. Swarm intelligence, inspiredby this signaling, has enabled companies like REGEN Energy, SouthwestAirlines, and Air Liquide to efficiently resolve complex problems. 107,108DATA STORAGEJust as computers and server farms store data, organisms store andretrieve (i.e. remember) data relating to food, predators, and habitats.Accordingly, biological brains have very dense storage capabilities.Though brains and computers store data very differently, the humanbrain can store approximately 3.5 million gigabytes, roughly 55,000times more than a 64 gigabyte iPad. 109 Additionally, all life requiresheritable instructions (data-dense DNA) to direct growth and development.Researchers at Harvard’s Wyss Institute coded 700 terabytes of data into1 gram of DNA, prompting interest in DNA as a storage medium. Theteam believes that with improvements, all the data in the world (nearly 1.8billion terabytes) could theoretically be stored in about 4 grams of DNA. 110TransportationUtilitiesWarehouse & DistributionINTELLIGENCENature achieves intelligence in ways unrealized by today’s computing,such as the brain’s ability to learn and respond, the collective taskcoordination of cells and immune systems, and the optimization ofevolution. 111 Bioinspired computing is becoming essential to moderncomputing; artificial neural nets, such as IBM’s SyNAPSE chip—basedon neuron organization in brains—can process in parallel and learn.Artificial immune systems mimic the dynamics of immune systems,improving computer security, fault detection, and machine learning.Evolutionary algorithms used in software, such as Optistruct ® , are basedon the principles of evolution: they generate optimal solutions from afield of iterations, saving design time, and improving functionality. 10730Tapping into Nature