Product design, nature's way

Eons of evolution have honed plant and animal life into the most intricately engineered things on the planet. Now a new breed of inventor is reverse-engineering Mother Earth's marvels and turning them into remarkable real-world products.

Going with the flow
Going with the flow
The inventor: Jay Harman

The company: Pax Scientific

The innovation: Energy-efficient fans and impellers

The inspriation: The spiral-flow patterns of water and air

Read the full story

1

2

3
Who matters now? We invite you to vote for the businesspeople who inspire, inform and infuriate you, from CEOs to entrepreneurs to media stars. (more)
100 fastest-growing techs Despite talk of bubbles, the tech sector continues to surge. The companies on our 2007 list are posting eye-popping results. (more)
America's hottest job markets The great hiring boom is slowing down, but a few choice regions will stay red-hot. You just have to know where to look. (more)

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.