The tip of a squid's beak is harder than most metals but the end closest to the animal's mouth is a fleshy 100 times softer.
(PhysOrg.com) -- Biomimicry – technological innovation inspired by nature – is one of the hottest ideas in science but has yet to yield many practical advances. Time for a change. Scientists with the U.S. Department of ...
(PhysOrg.com) -- In addition to its iridescent beauty, mother of pearl, or nacre, the inner lining of the shells of abalone, mussels and certain other mollusks, is also renowned for an amazing strength and toughness that ...
Scientists at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (Germany) advise buyers of cultured pearls to be more vigilant. "In Germany too, we are increasingly seeing Chinese sweet-water cultured pearls being marketed as Japanese, ...
Marine snails, sea urchins, and other animals from the sea are teaching researchers in UC Riverside’s Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering how to make the world a better place.
Zebrafish are genetically similar to humans and are good models for human biology and disease. Now, researchers at Children's Hospital Boston have created a zebrafish that is transparent throughout its life. The new fish ...
While the shiny material of pearls and abalone shells has long been prized for its iridescence and aesthetic value in jewelry and decorations, scientists admire mother-of-pearl for other physical properties as well.
The next generation of artificial bone may rely on a few secrets from the sea. Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have harnessed the way seawater freezes to ...
Mother-of-pearl, also known as nacre, is not just an iridescent substance whose optical characteristics impress the observer and which is often used for jewellery. It is also an excellent material for working with. Nacre ...
The ocean is a perilous environment for a soft-bodied creature like a sea snail, so nature gives it an advanced nanostructured armor system that is stiff and strong yet lightweight. It's called a shell. Now MIT scientists ...
