For folks who follow along with our press releases and social media, you probably already听到了消息。At the Circularity21 conference last week, we awarded the sixth annual Ray of Hope prize to the best biomimetic startup business. Many congratulations toSpintex和aquammodate, our winner and runner-up respectively. For that matter, congratulations to all of the teams – as a judge for the award, I was blown away by the quality of their business models and their pitches.

You can read about all ten of thefinalist teams who pitched here。在过去的几年中，我写过有关成为法官的过程的文章，并且我还对参加比赛的一些球队也成为了人们的关注。我不想今年这样做。他们都应该肯定受到人们的关注，但是我想花一些时间来思考启发奖励奖项的每一项业务的缪斯 - 自然。

What I find remarkable is the breadth of life that inspired this year’s startups. One team looked at theCyphochilus beetle为了确定其壳为何为白色，这使它们可以制造基于纤维素的白色色素，该白色色素可以取代其他有害的白色颜料，例如二氧化钛。另一支球队的灵感来自甲虫，但出于不同的原因。他们看着Stenocara gracilipes甲虫（Beetle）住在纳米布（Namib）沙漠中，并通过捕获空中的小水滴来生存。该技术启发了一项可以从工业设施和发电厂中捕获蒸汽羽流的技术。

Now let’s hop over to the kingdom of the fungi. Two teams were inspired by many different species of fungus. One has figured out how to harness fungi to decompose various waste streams and then harvest themyceliumto fabricate building products like insulation. The other uses fungal strains to break down toxins in soil, offering a better soil remediation technology for contaminated sites like brownfields and Superfund sites.

两个团队深入研究水生生态系统的灵感。一个人抬起谦虚的牡蛎以及它过滤水和再生海洋栖息地的能力，制造牡蛎可以更容易附着和生长的底物。另一个破裂了代码mussels以及它们无与伦比的粘合剂，使它们可以与水下表面结合。模仿它们使他们具有粘合剂，以优于潮湿环境中的行业领先技术。

另外两个团队试图用纤维创新来破坏纺织业。一个人开发了一种基于方式的技术河口ecosystems rely upon tidal flows. The other perfectly imitates the蜘蛛的ability to extract a solid fiber from a liquid, protein-rich gel in its abdomen. The result is a fiber that can replace silk, a luxury fiber that has an unfortunately negative environmental impact.

Our final two teams zoom in to microscopic scales for inspiration. One looks atdiatoms, single-celled algae that make a huge difference for our planet as they generate more than 20% of the oxygen produced on Earth. This team studied the structural form of diatoms and how they can enhance our current best-in-class water filtration technologies. Last we have a team that takes inspiration from叶绿素molecules and their ability to absorb light to power biochemistry (what we call photosynthesis). This team has developed a photocatalyst that can allow our modern chemistry to be powered by light instead of by heat and heavy metals.

Beetles, mushrooms, estuaries, oysters, mussels, spiders, diatoms and chlorophyll – that’s about as diverse as it gets. And it’s just a scratch on the surface of nature’s library of solutions.Nature really is the best teacher, and the teams that pitched for our Ray of Hope Prize know it. Best wishes to all of them as they take the next steps in their entrepreneurial journeys!

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接触：
Valerie Bennett
+1 (770) 317-5858
valerie@raycandersonfoundation.org
Ray C. Anderson Foundation
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