Animal senses cover a broad range of signal types and signal bandwidths and have inspired various sensors and bioinstrumentation devices for biological and medical applications. Insects, such as desert ants and honeybees, for example, utilize polarized skylight pattern-based information in their navigation activities. They reliably return to their nests and hives from places many kilometers away. The insect navigation system involves the dorsal rim area in their compound eyes and the corresponding polarization sensitive neurons in the brain. The dorsal rim area is equipped with photoreceptors, which have orthogonally arranged small hair-like structures termed microvilli. These are the specialized sensors for the detection of polarized skylight patterns (e-vector orientation). Various research groups have been working on the development of novel navigation systems inspired by polarized skylight-based navigation in animals. Their major contributions are critically reviewed. One focus of current research activities is on imitating the integration path mechanism in desert ants. The potential for simple, high performance miniaturized bioinstrumentation that can assist people in navigation will be explored.

Heavy metal wastewater poses a threat to human life and causes significant environmental problems. Bioremediation provides a sustainable waste management technique that uses organisms to remove heavy metals from contaminated water through a variety of different processes. Biosorption involves the use of biomass, such as plant extracts and microorganisms (bacteria, fungi, algae, yeast), and represents a low-cost and environmentally friendly method of bioremediation and resource management. Biosorption-based biosynthesis is proposed as a means of removing heavy metals from wastewaters and soils as it aids the development of heavy metal nanoparticles that may have an application within the technology industry. Phytomining provides a further green method of managing the metal content of wastewater. These approaches represent a viable means of removing toxic chemicals from the effluent produced during the process of manufacturing, and the bioremediation process, furthermore, has the potential to save metal resources from depletion. Biomimetic resource management comprises bioremediation, biosorption, biosynthesis, phytomining, and further methods that provide innovative ways of interpreting waste and pollutants as raw materials for research and industry, inspired by materials, structures, and processes in living nature.

Plant tissues include leaves, flower petals, and fruits. These can provide us with variety of design inspirations. Biomimetics allows us to learn from nature and transfer the knowledge we gain from studying sophisticated and amazing biological structures, materials and processes to engineering and the arts. The microstructures of morphology and anatomy of plant tissue have potential applications in technology through bioinspired design, which can mimic the properties found in nature or use them as inspiration for alternative applications. Many applications have been developed as a result of studying physical properties of plant tissues. Structural colours, for example, have been applied in the design of thin films both with regard to single or multilayer thin film interference, scattering, and diffraction gratings. Iridescent, metallic, or greyish colouration found naturally in plants is the result of physical structures or physical effects and not pigmentation. Phenotypical appearance of plants with structural colouration in tropical Malaysia is correlated with environmental parameters such as location (shady understory rainforest, sunny conditions) and altitude (highlands, lowlands). Various examples of bioinspired technical innovations with structural colours highlight the importance of inspiration by structural colours in living nature.

The human senses are of extraordinary value, but we cannot change them, even if this proves to be a disadvantage in our modern times. However, we can assist, enhance and expand these senses via MEMS. This paper introduces data for a push-pull analysis method based on a concise summary of senses in organisms and MEMS sensors that already have reached the market, giving an overview where current MEMS technology excels (available solutions) and where natural sensor systems excel. It provides a knowledge base for further development of MEMS sensors. Some animals and even humans (with artificial lenses after cataract surgery) can see in the infrared and ultraviolet range; related MEMS with IR/UV sensitivity might assist us to determine the status of organisms. The hearing capabilities of bats (ultrasound) can inspire echolocation in man. Butterflies have exquisite thermoregulation; this might lead to MEMS that are better protected from overheating. Mice can smell important information about another mouse’s immune system and mosquitoes detect minuscule amounts of carbon dioxide and lactic acid; thereby inspired MEMS could serve as medical or environmental scanners. The senses for magnetism, vibrations and electroreception that are used by animals might satisfy the need for MEMS in navigation and orientation. MEMS that are skillfully added to the human body can provide additional perceptory data. Future research will identify where already available MEMS excel and which outstanding properties of sensory systems can easily be replicated by ‘off the shelf’ systems.

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