A new UN survey says that big firms like General Electric and Procter & Gamble have, in their search for new ideas, been turning in greater numbers to Mother Nature. Janine Benyus, of the Biomimicry Guild (that wrote the report), points out that life — in its 3.8 billion years of inventing — has created an enormous number of "blueprints, designs and chemical recipes."

The white edelweiss flower has tiny hairs containing chemistry that protects the flower from ultraviolet light in its high mountain habitat — and that could lead to better sun creams. The finely pitted surface of a lotus plant's leaf repels water, and that very design has been imitated in roof tiles of 300,000 European buildings.

A formaldehyde-free plywood glue is based on the powerful substance that glues mussels to rocks near the ocean. And a Canadian company will soon be producing cement based on the way oysters build their shells.

... And lest we forget, the way prickly seeds stick onto your pant leg after a walk in the woods led the way to a clever product called "Velcro."

Questions can be sent to Jim Parks at jrparks@mac.com. To find out more about Jim Parks and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2008 CREATORS SYNDICATE INC.