Nature’s newest super material comes from a mollusk found on the rocky shores of western Europe. The teeth of the limpets are even stronger than spider silk, the previous record holder.
Limpet teeth grow from a radula, a ribbonlike structure used to scrape and cut food, such as algae, offrocky surfaces. The teeth are built of protein frames reinforced by closely packed nanofibres of a mineral called goethite. The material displayed a very high tensile strength of up to 6.5 gigapascals (GPa); in comparison, spider silk has a tensile strength of up to 4.5 Gpa, and Kevlar boasts only about 3.0-3.5 Gpa. What’s interesting is that limpet teeth retain their strength regardless of size.
Scientists believe the structure could be reproduced in high-performance engineering applications such as Formula 1 racing cars, boat hulls and aircraft.
Examining effective designs in nature and then making structures based on these designs is known as ‘bio-inspiration’.
Tears caused by sadness, happiness, and chopping onions look different under the microscope, photographer Rose-Lynn Fisher found as part of her project The Topography of Tears.
Tears contain oils, antibodies and enzymes suspended in salt and fall into three categories: basal (released continuously to keep the eyes lubricated), reflex (in response to irrtants such as when chopping onions or when getting poked in the eye), and psychic (triggered by emotions).
Since the structures seen under the microscope are largely crystallized salt, the circumstances under which the tear dries can lead to radically dissimilar shapes and formations, so two psychic tears with the exact same chemical make-up can look very different.
Picture Credit : Google
