PeTaL (Periodic Table of Life) and Physiomimetics

Abstract

The Periodic Table of Life (PeTaL) is a system design tool and open source framework that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to aid in the systematic inquiry of nature for its application to human systems. This paper defines PeTaL’s architecture and workflow. Biomimicry, biophysics, biomimetics, bionics and numerous other terms refer to the use of biology and biological principles to inform practices in other disciplines. For the most part, the domain of inquiry in these fields has been confined to extant biological models with the proponents of biomimicry often citing the evolutionary success of extant organisms relative to extinct ones. An objective of this paper is to expand the domain of inquiry for human processes that seek to model those that are, were or could be found in nature with examples that relate to the field of aerospace and to spur development of tools that can work together to accelerate the use of artificial intelligence, topology optimization and conventional modeling in problem solving. Specifically, specialized fields such as paleomimesis, anthropomimesis and physioteleology are proposed in conjunction with artificial evolution. The overarching philosophy outlined here can be thought of as physiomimetics, a holistic and systematic way of learning from natural history. The backbone of PeTaL integrates an unstructured database with an ontological model consisting of function, morphology, environment, state of matter and ecosystem. Tools that support PeTaL include machine learning, natural language processing and computer vision. Applications of PeTaL include guiding human space exploration, understanding human and geological history, and discovering new or extinct life. Also discussed is the formation of V.I.N.E. (Virtual Interchange for Nature-inspired Exploration), a virtual collaborative aimed at generating data, research and applications centered on nature. Details of implementation will be presented in subsequent publications. Recommendations for future work are also presented.

Paleomimetics: A Conceptual Framework for a Biomimetic Design Inspired by Fossils and Evolutionary Processes

“…Regarding the mimicry of extinct species, Shyam et al [ 15 ] introduced the term Paleomimesis as “mimicking or learning from the past”. In her review, Tihelka [ 16 ] referred to “Palaeobiotechnology” as the potential industrial application of fossil-inspired technologies.…”

“…Hence, extinct species on par with extant ones can now be considered in the development of bioinspired solutions leading to the emergence of Paleomimetics, i.e., a biomimetic design inspired by extinct species and evolutionary processes. This concept was also introduced by Shyam et al [ 15 ] with the name of “Paleomimesis”, together with the Periodic Table of Life (PeTaL), consisting in a tool based on artificial intelligence that supports the identification of biological solutions for human applications. Successively, Tihelka [ 16 ] reviewed the potential industrial applications of fossil-inspired technologies named “Palaeobiotechnology”.…”

Biomimethics: a critical perspective on the ethical implications of biomimetics in technological innovation

“…To achieve their goals, practitioners of biomimetics often rely on the inaccurate assumption that biological organisms and systems, having evolved over billions of years, are 'time-tested' , represent 'perfection' and are 'far superior' to current technologies. More precisely, they are considered the result from evolutionary processes that strive for optimization, motivations that have been widely criticized [30,44,[46][47][48][49]. For instance, due to the multiple competing requirements imposed by the environment, evolution by natural selection often results in organisms having traits that represent trade-offs between various functions, rather than being optimized for a single function [30,47].…”

Method to Retrieve Bionic Morphologies by Spectral Matching for the Design Space

“…Thus, a function-only approach can omit designs which do not fall under a particular functional category. Furthermore, convoluted data about biological structures and its systems add to more effort by designers in the inspiration phase of the product development process [24]. An algorithm which can suggest bionic forms to the designer will aid the conceptual design phase and the designers can focus more on the validation phase.…”