Bamboo

Oyster mushrooms and bits of bamboo sound more at home on a Chinese menu than stuck to the wall, but scientists have used this mix to make aesthetically pleasing tiles with bumps and textures that help regulate temperature much like elephant skin does.

Built to be carnivorous, giant pandas spend up to 16 hours a day on their backsides eating bamboo. But contrary to all the panda jokes, it's not because they're lazy or too dumb to know better. It's far more fascinating – and it may help humans, too.

When you think of bamboo, you probably don't think of sea-spanning bridges or world records or typhoons, but it's been eight years and the bamboo is just fine.

Tubular structures that fold flat for storage may not take up much room in that form, but they also tend not to be very strong when deployed. That isn't a problem with an experimental new type of tube, that's inspired by both origami and bamboo.

The Khudi Bari is a remarkably simple and low-cost tiny house that's primarily constructed from bamboo. It has been created for people living in Bangladesh that are in danger of being displaced due to flooding.

Glass might soon have some competition from an unlikely rival – bamboo. Scientists in China have turned regular old bamboo into a transparent material that’s also resistant to fire and water, and suppresses smoke.

Romanian e-mobility startup Diodra is laying claim to making the world's lightest ebike with a bamboo frame. The S3 tips the scales at 15 kg and features an all-in-one hub drive that includes motor and battery.

Taking the form of an oversized sea creature, the recently completed Overwater Restaurant offers a superb example of the efficacy of bamboo as a building material and features an intricate structure that's topped by an undulating roof.

BambuBuild, working with architecture firm Tran Ba Tiep, was commissioned to create a visually impressive and environmentally friendly centerpiece of a large restaurant. The team has risen to the occasion with an intricate bamboo dining hall.

Though still not used in mainstream manufacturing, we've seen bike builders make use of bamboo for a number of years. My Boo tapped bamboo and flax for a cargo ebike back in May, and now the Bamboo Bicycle Club is working on a pedal-assist cargo trike.

Last year, Italian electric mobility company Reinova announced the development of a folding bamboo-bodied electric scooter called the ToMove. Well, the funky li'l vehicle is now known as the Tom, and is the subject of a Kickstarter campaign.

Vietnam's H&P Architects has produced a prototype floating dwelling that's made from bamboo. It's envisioned for river-based populations under threat from climate change, especially those living on and around the country's Mekong Delta.