see:
Biomimicry
(for the moment)
http://www.smalltimes.com/print_doc.cfm?doc_id=5567
http://technology.newscientist.com/article/dn13420-floppy-when-wet-sea-cucumber-inspires-new-plastic.html
April 2008 nat-geo on “Biomimetics: Design by Nature” »
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/04/biomimetics/tom-mueller-text