The cities of today are built with concrete and steel – but some Cambridge researchers think that the cities of the future need to go back to nature if they are to support an ever-expanding population, while keeping carbon emissions under control. Whereas some researchers are investigating ways of producing steel and concrete in more energy-efficient ways, or finding ways of using less, Dr Michelle Oyen of Cambridge’s Department of Engineering would rather turn the tables completely, and create new building materials that are strong, sustainable and take their inspiration from nature. Oyen works in the field of biomimetics – literally ‘copying life’. In her lab, with funding support from the US Army Corps of Engineers, she constructs small samples of artificial bone and eggshell, which could be used as medical implants, or even be scaled up and used as low-carbon building materials. http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/features/would-you-live-in-a-city-made-of-bone
