Improving energy storage with a cue from nature

In 1996, Bejan identified the physics behind these branching natural designs with a new principle he called the "Constructal Law," which states that for flow systems -- like rivers or trees -- to survive, they must evolve over time to provide easier and easier access to the currents that flow through them. In practice this means that a river will shift course as it spreads into the sea to avoid obstructions caused by settling sediment, and a plant will reorient its branches in a constant effort to facilitate nutrient and water flow.

In the following two decades, Bejan and his colleagues have shown how the evolution of various natural and human-made designs, from snowflakes to airplanes, is explained by the Constructal Law.