Richard James MacCowan
@rmaccowan.bsky.social
Founder & Biofuturist @ Biomimicry Innovation Lab
Come say hello - https://hihello.me/hi/richardjamesmaccowan-ZRKBMg
Come say hello - https://hihello.me/hi/richardjamesmaccowan-ZRKBMg
Evidence first. Results over rhetoric.
If you're at either summit, let's talk about what works.
🦋
#cosmetics #packaging #biomimetics #AI #networks
If you're at either summit, let's talk about what works.
🦋
#cosmetics #packaging #biomimetics #AI #networks
October 22, 2025 at 9:48 AM
Evidence first. Results over rhetoric.
If you're at either summit, let's talk about what works.
🦋
#cosmetics #packaging #biomimetics #AI #networks
If you're at either summit, let's talk about what works.
🦋
#cosmetics #packaging #biomimetics #AI #networks
This isn't about nature being "sustainable" or "optimized."
It's about selection-shaped functions solving similar problems under similar constraints.
Then proving they deliver measurable advantage in your application.
It's about selection-shaped functions solving similar problems under similar constraints.
Then proving they deliver measurable advantage in your application.
October 22, 2025 at 9:48 AM
This isn't about nature being "sustainable" or "optimized."
It's about selection-shaped functions solving similar problems under similar constraints.
Then proving they deliver measurable advantage in your application.
It's about selection-shaped functions solving similar problems under similar constraints.
Then proving they deliver measurable advantage in your application.
R&D leaders ask about replicability, scaling bioinspired microstructures, and validating claims.
I've compiled the peer-reviewed answers with protocols your teams can use.
I've compiled the peer-reviewed answers with protocols your teams can use.
October 22, 2025 at 9:48 AM
R&D leaders ask about replicability, scaling bioinspired microstructures, and validating claims.
I've compiled the peer-reviewed answers with protocols your teams can use.
I've compiled the peer-reviewed answers with protocols your teams can use.
The common thread? Mechanism fidelity.
Does the biological principle map to your engineering context?
Can you measure the performance differential?
Will it survive your manufacturing constraints?
Does the biological principle map to your engineering context?
Can you measure the performance differential?
Will it survive your manufacturing constraints?
October 22, 2025 at 9:48 AM
The common thread? Mechanism fidelity.
Does the biological principle map to your engineering context?
Can you measure the performance differential?
Will it survive your manufacturing constraints?
Does the biological principle map to your engineering context?
Can you measure the performance differential?
Will it survive your manufacturing constraints?
In London: perception-aware AI systems informed by biological vision.
Not mimicking eyes. Understanding how selection pressure shaped robust sensory processing under constraint.
Not mimicking eyes. Understanding how selection pressure shaped robust sensory processing under constraint.
October 22, 2025 at 9:48 AM
In London: perception-aware AI systems informed by biological vision.
Not mimicking eyes. Understanding how selection pressure shaped robust sensory processing under constraint.
Not mimicking eyes. Understanding how selection pressure shaped robust sensory processing under constraint.
In Paris: structural colour approaches reducing dye load in formulations.
Not copying beetle patterns. Mapping the mechanisms producing colour without pigment.
Not copying beetle patterns. Mapping the mechanisms producing colour without pigment.
October 22, 2025 at 9:48 AM
In Paris: structural colour approaches reducing dye load in formulations.
Not copying beetle patterns. Mapping the mechanisms producing colour without pigment.
Not copying beetle patterns. Mapping the mechanisms producing colour without pigment.
AI researchers grapple with dataset bias and perception systems breaking under real-world conditions.
Meanwhile, insect vision has been handling variable inputs for millions of generations.
Meanwhile, insect vision has been handling variable inputs for millions of generations.
October 22, 2025 at 9:48 AM
AI researchers grapple with dataset bias and perception systems breaking under real-world conditions.
Meanwhile, insect vision has been handling variable inputs for millions of generations.
Meanwhile, insect vision has been handling variable inputs for millions of generations.
The cosmetics industry faces 18-24-month development cycles.
This conflicts with the time needed to validate biological mechanisms properly.
Most teams default to traditional chemistry.
This conflicts with the time needed to validate biological mechanisms properly.
Most teams default to traditional chemistry.
October 22, 2025 at 9:48 AM
The cosmetics industry faces 18-24-month development cycles.
This conflicts with the time needed to validate biological mechanisms properly.
Most teams default to traditional chemistry.
This conflicts with the time needed to validate biological mechanisms properly.
Most teams default to traditional chemistry.
This week I'm speaking at the Sustainable Cosmetics Summit Europe and next week at the Global Summit on Open Problems for AI.
Different sectors. Same challenge.
Different sectors. Same challenge.
October 22, 2025 at 9:48 AM
This week I'm speaking at the Sustainable Cosmetics Summit Europe and next week at the Global Summit on Open Problems for AI.
Different sectors. Same challenge.
Different sectors. Same challenge.
The sophistication isn't in the leaf alone.
It's in the leaf-environment interaction; solutions evolved over millennia to solve problems we're just beginning to measure correctly.
🦋
It's in the leaf-environment interaction; solutions evolved over millennia to solve problems we're just beginning to measure correctly.
🦋
October 8, 2025 at 9:51 AM
The sophistication isn't in the leaf alone.
It's in the leaf-environment interaction; solutions evolved over millennia to solve problems we're just beginning to measure correctly.
🦋
It's in the leaf-environment interaction; solutions evolved over millennia to solve problems we're just beginning to measure correctly.
🦋
Moving forward requires a methodological revolution.
Couple surface chemistry, microtopography, and controlled airflow in one workflow.
Expect tighter predictions, clearer mechanisms, stronger bioinspired design choices.
Couple surface chemistry, microtopography, and controlled airflow in one workflow.
Expect tighter predictions, clearer mechanisms, stronger bioinspired design choices.
October 8, 2025 at 9:51 AM
Moving forward requires a methodological revolution.
Couple surface chemistry, microtopography, and controlled airflow in one workflow.
Expect tighter predictions, clearer mechanisms, stronger bioinspired design choices.
Couple surface chemistry, microtopography, and controlled airflow in one workflow.
Expect tighter predictions, clearer mechanisms, stronger bioinspired design choices.
For biomimetics, this changes everything.
If your surface coating models came from still-air data, they'll fail when deployed.
If your self-cleaning designs ignore airflow, they won't self-clean in REAL-WORLD conditions.
If your surface coating models came from still-air data, they'll fail when deployed.
If your self-cleaning designs ignore airflow, they won't self-clean in REAL-WORLD conditions.
October 8, 2025 at 9:51 AM
For biomimetics, this changes everything.
If your surface coating models came from still-air data, they'll fail when deployed.
If your self-cleaning designs ignore airflow, they won't self-clean in REAL-WORLD conditions.
If your surface coating models came from still-air data, they'll fail when deployed.
If your self-cleaning designs ignore airflow, they won't self-clean in REAL-WORLD conditions.
The implications extend beyond taxonomy.
This is a pattern in scientific inquiry: isolating variables at the expense of understanding HOLISTIC SYSTEMS.
Nature rarely operates through single-factor mechanisms.
This is a pattern in scientific inquiry: isolating variables at the expense of understanding HOLISTIC SYSTEMS.
Nature rarely operates through single-factor mechanisms.
October 8, 2025 at 9:51 AM
The implications extend beyond taxonomy.
This is a pattern in scientific inquiry: isolating variables at the expense of understanding HOLISTIC SYSTEMS.
Nature rarely operates through single-factor mechanisms.
This is a pattern in scientific inquiry: isolating variables at the expense of understanding HOLISTIC SYSTEMS.
Nature rarely operates through single-factor mechanisms.
This matters because Loftus leaves simultaneously exhibit contradictory properties.
Hydrophobic AND hydrophilic zones create microenvironments where water behaves unpredictably.
Environmental factors don't just influence—they transform the system.
Hydrophobic AND hydrophilic zones create microenvironments where water behaves unpredictably.
Environmental factors don't just influence—they transform the system.
October 8, 2025 at 9:51 AM
This matters because Loftus leaves simultaneously exhibit contradictory properties.
Hydrophobic AND hydrophilic zones create microenvironments where water behaves unpredictably.
Environmental factors don't just influence—they transform the system.
Hydrophobic AND hydrophilic zones create microenvironments where water behaves unpredictably.
Environmental factors don't just influence—they transform the system.
It's not just wind as background noise.
The BOUNDARY LAYER redistributes droplets across mixed wetting surfaces, shifting adhesion and roll-off thresholds we thought were stable.
Small airflow variations create dramatically different outcomes.
The BOUNDARY LAYER redistributes droplets across mixed wetting surfaces, shifting adhesion and roll-off thresholds we thought were stable.
Small airflow variations create dramatically different outcomes.
October 8, 2025 at 9:51 AM
It's not just wind as background noise.
The BOUNDARY LAYER redistributes droplets across mixed wetting surfaces, shifting adhesion and roll-off thresholds we thought were stable.
Small airflow variations create dramatically different outcomes.
The BOUNDARY LAYER redistributes droplets across mixed wetting surfaces, shifting adhesion and roll-off thresholds we thought were stable.
Small airflow variations create dramatically different outcomes.
Here's what changes when you introduce controlled microgusts:
The hydrophobic-hydrophilic matrix triggers REGIME CHANGES in coalescence, pinning, and self-cleaning that static trials never revealed.
The hydrophobic-hydrophilic matrix triggers REGIME CHANGES in coalescence, pinning, and self-cleaning that static trials never revealed.
October 8, 2025 at 9:51 AM
Here's what changes when you introduce controlled microgusts:
The hydrophobic-hydrophilic matrix triggers REGIME CHANGES in coalescence, pinning, and self-cleaning that static trials never revealed.
The hydrophobic-hydrophilic matrix triggers REGIME CHANGES in coalescence, pinning, and self-cleaning that static trials never revealed.
STATIC tests miss this entirely.
We've been studying these leaves in still air for decades.
Bench-top results looked clean. Repeatable. Publishable.
But they don't match what happens in the field.
We've been studying these leaves in still air for decades.
Bench-top results looked clean. Repeatable. Publishable.
But they don't match what happens in the field.
October 8, 2025 at 9:51 AM
STATIC tests miss this entirely.
We've been studying these leaves in still air for decades.
Bench-top results looked clean. Repeatable. Publishable.
But they don't match what happens in the field.
We've been studying these leaves in still air for decades.
Bench-top results looked clean. Repeatable. Publishable.
But they don't match what happens in the field.
On Loftus leaves, there's an air film near the surface.
Turns out, this film modulates droplet behaviour as much as the microstructure does.
Small changes in shear produce different pinning, runoff, and particulate transport patterns.
Turns out, this film modulates droplet behaviour as much as the microstructure does.
Small changes in shear produce different pinning, runoff, and particulate transport patterns.
October 8, 2025 at 9:51 AM
On Loftus leaves, there's an air film near the surface.
Turns out, this film modulates droplet behaviour as much as the microstructure does.
Small changes in shear produce different pinning, runoff, and particulate transport patterns.
Turns out, this film modulates droplet behaviour as much as the microstructure does.
Small changes in shear produce different pinning, runoff, and particulate transport patterns.
🦋
Further reading: https://news.njit.edu/ywcc-student-faculty-win-best-presentation-award-simulating-ant-swarms
Further reading: https://news.njit.edu/ywcc-student-faculty-win-best-presentation-award-simulating-ant-swarms
October 7, 2025 at 9:13 AM
Bottom line:
Switch from fighting collisions to converting them into coordinated flow.
The thresholds are published. The simulations are validated. The applications are immediate.
Time to test them in your system.
Switch from fighting collisions to converting them into coordinated flow.
The thresholds are published. The simulations are validated. The applications are immediate.
Time to test them in your system.
October 7, 2025 at 9:13 AM
Bottom line:
Switch from fighting collisions to converting them into coordinated flow.
The thresholds are published. The simulations are validated. The applications are immediate.
Time to test them in your system.
Switch from fighting collisions to converting them into coordinated flow.
The thresholds are published. The simulations are validated. The applications are immediate.
Time to test them in your system.
Key insight:
Biological systems aren't "optimised."
Trade-offs and constraints shape them.
That's precisely why they work at scale - they evolved under the same messy conditions your systems face.
Biological systems aren't "optimised."
Trade-offs and constraints shape them.
That's precisely why they work at scale - they evolved under the same messy conditions your systems face.
October 7, 2025 at 9:13 AM
Key insight:
Biological systems aren't "optimised."
Trade-offs and constraints shape them.
That's precisely why they work at scale - they evolved under the same messy conditions your systems face.
Biological systems aren't "optimised."
Trade-offs and constraints shape them.
That's precisely why they work at scale - they evolved under the same messy conditions your systems face.
The NJIT models are simulation-ready.
You can test the yielding and spacing parameters in your existing planning stack within MINUTES.
Not metaphors. Mechanisms with clear values you can tune.
You can test the yielding and spacing parameters in your existing planning stack within MINUTES.
Not metaphors. Mechanisms with clear values you can tune.
October 7, 2025 at 9:13 AM
The NJIT models are simulation-ready.
You can test the yielding and spacing parameters in your existing planning stack within MINUTES.
Not metaphors. Mechanisms with clear values you can tune.
You can test the yielding and spacing parameters in your existing planning stack within MINUTES.
Not metaphors. Mechanisms with clear values you can tune.
The shift:
FROM brittle central control that breaks under edge cases
TO resilient local rules that handle noise, density spikes, and hardware variation
FROM brittle central control that breaks under edge cases
TO resilient local rules that handle noise, density spikes, and hardware variation
October 7, 2025 at 9:13 AM
The shift:
FROM brittle central control that breaks under edge cases
TO resilient local rules that handle noise, density spikes, and hardware variation
FROM brittle central control that breaks under edge cases
TO resilient local rules that handle noise, density spikes, and hardware variation