“Scientists discover the world that exists; Engineers create the world that never was.”
— Theodore Von Kármán
How does nature engineer soil?
The answer to this question opens up a new way of viewing the soil beneath our feet, as a class of adaptive matter: an engineered soft material whose structure, composition, and properties are evolved in response to external environmental stimuli. Studying the emergent dynamics of these systems with the precision applied to biological cells can deepen our understanding of transport and dynamics in soil-mediated materials, while also addressing broader challenges in soft matter engineering. Here, we can ask three guiding research questions:
- Can we derive general learning rules governing the emergence of macroscopic soil properties under environmental forcing?
- How can principles of adaptation inform design rules for engineering soils with tailored microstructure and composition?
- What general insights from these processes can guide the development of geo-inspired, sustainable, multifunctional soft composites?
Answer to these questions is explored using the materials geomimicry framework, which aims to synthetically reconstitute complex soil behavior to design novel materials and processes with advanced mechanical and transport properties. This convergent approach lies at the intersection of soft particulate rheo-tribology, colloid and surface science, materials chemistry, soil physics, geomaterials, porous-media transport, and living-matter dynamics. Applications span disciplines of chemical, mechanical, civil and environmental engineering, as well as materials science. They can be broadly classified into two areas: (a) geomimetic materials and process design (mechanical memory materials, soft matter–neural interfaces, earth-mimetic fluidic devices, and soft particuology for rare earth/critical mineral extraction), and (b) soft earth engineering (climate-responsive soil, resilient building materials, precision agriculture, and space manufacturing/terraforming applications). Geomimicry offers a powerful framework to both discover new principles and engineer improved systems by observing the soil beneath our feet.