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The Strongest Natural Material: Sea Snail Teeth

posted by n1 on Friday February 20 2015, @07:39PM   Printer-friendly
from the bioinspiration dept.

"gewg_" writes:

El Reg reports:

Limpets – a type of aquatic snail – [...]need high strength teeth to scrape algae off rocks. [...] Scientists used atomic force microscopy to pull the teeth apart at the atom level. They found the teeth contain a hard mineral known as goethite, which forms in the limpet as it grows.

[...]Professor Asa Barber from [Portsmouth] University's School of Engineering said: "Until now we thought that spider silk was the strongest biological material because of its super-strength and potential applications in everything from bullet-proof vests to computer electronics but now we have discovered that limpet teeth exhibit a strength that is potentially higher."

The research also discovered that limpet teeth are the same strength no matter what the size. Usually, the bigger a structure, the more prone it is to flaws. Limpet teeth break this rule, as their strength is the same no matter what the size.

These structures could be mimicked and used in high-performance engineering applications such as Formula 1 racing cars, the hulls of boats, and aircraft structures.

[...]The research was published [February 18] in the Royal Society Journal Interface.[1]

[1] That may hold the record for the most scripts on a page with just 38kB of content.

 
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 20 2015, @08:09PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 20 2015, @08:09PM (#147557)

    WAR.

  • (Score: 3, Funny) by JeanCroix on Friday February 20 2015, @08:20PM

    by JeanCroix (573) on Friday February 20 2015, @08:20PM (#147561)
    Good god, y'all.

    • (Score: 3, Funny) by CoolHand on Friday February 20 2015, @08:34PM

      by CoolHand (438) on Friday February 20 2015, @08:34PM (#147567) Journal

      What is it good for?

      --
      Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job-Douglas Adams

      • (Score: 3, Funny) by Covalent on Friday February 20 2015, @08:48PM

        by Covalent (43) on Friday February 20 2015, @08:48PM (#147574) Journal

        Absolutely nothing.

        --
        You can't rationally argue somebody out of a position they didn't rationally get into.

        • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 20 2015, @08:55PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 20 2015, @08:55PM (#147577)

          Say it again

          • (Score: 3, Funny) by c0lo on Friday February 20 2015, @09:42PM

            by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Friday February 20 2015, @09:42PM (#147605) Journal
            WAR
            --
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 20 2015, @11:10PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 20 2015, @11:10PM (#147645)

              we should append "without my pants" to every comment... without my pants

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 20 2015, @11:11PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 20 2015, @11:11PM (#147646)

            WAR.