This month’s National Geographic has a great story on biomimetics, or biomimicry, the art of studying nature’s engineering. If you’re inspired by this story, check out these TEDTalks for more on biomimicry. Clicking on a name (or an image above) will launch the TEDTalks player >>

+ Scientist Robert Full (whose work with geckos is explored in the National Geographic story) shares his obsession with animal feet

+ Biologist Sheila Patek plays high-speed video that captures some extreme engineering from nature — the superefficient structures that allows a tiny shrimp to move at hyperspeed

+ Journalist Janine Benyus shares her top 12 designs that we can steal from nature, from self-assembly to self-smoothing paint

+ Oceanographer David Gallo shares some amazing animal abilities that we humans might someday want (couldn’t you use a little bioluminescence?)