To Match the Genius of Centipedes, Bats, and Peacocks, Scientists Play a Game of Catch-Up

Pure science seeks understanding of "the nature of nature" and its operations. Applied science takes the insights from pure research and makes it work for human interests. What if you had a single word that incorporates both? Here's a contender for such a word: Biomimetics. The application side is clear, because engineers and inventors try to imitate nature's designs. But the pure-research side becomes active in the process, because you have to understand something before you can imitate it....