The intricate protective scales of a primitive African fish have given researchers clues that may form the basis of futuristic body armour for the soldiers of tomorrow.
Image:Juvenile Polypterus senegalus in an aquarium. Credit: Zhyla
A study, carried out by scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and funded by the U.S. army, has examined the protective scales of the Polypterus senegalus, a fish whose ancestry can be traced back 96 million years. Also known as the 'dinosaur eel', the 35.5 cm (14-inch) fish still inhabits muddy pools in Africa.
Unlike many of today's fish, the Polypterus senegalus sports a full body armour suit believed to be similar to the protection most fish would have carried many millions of years ago. The MIT study, which was published in the journal Nature Materials , attempts to unravel the secrets of the intricate protective suit.
Using nanotechnological methods, researchers found how the scales, which are around 50 millionths of a meter thick, consist of four layers which protect the soft under-tissue against biting attacks.
The team was able to observe the unique properties of the scales by mimicking such an attack on a scale removed from one of the fish. They monitored the design of the armour as it prevented catastrophic damage by forcing the crack to run around the penetration site rather than spreading through the entire scale.
The team also found the overlapping nature of the armour to be an important protective mechanism.
The understanding gained from examination of the dinosaur eel's woven body armour has given scientists a better idea of how to protect soldiers of the future, commented the researchers.
"Such fundamental knowledge holds great potential for the development of improved biologically-inspired structural materials, for example soldier, first-responder and military vehicle armour applications," outlined lead author Christine Ortiz, an associate professor in MIT's Department of Materials Science and Engineering.
"Many of the design principles we describe -- durable interfaces and energy-dissipating mechanisms, for instance -- may be translatable to human armour systems," Ortiz added.
meJul 28th, 2008 - 00:43:43
Ahh the fish strike again
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