What comes to mind when you think of strong, natural materials? If you said spider webs, way to go! you are 100% correct, however there is another material that has taken the number one spot. Although Spider-man’s webs are SUPER COOL and are the second strongest natural material in the world they have been beaten by……..limpets, specifically their teeth. Limpets are a kind of sea-snail, with a shell like the ones below.
The teeth on the Limpets are “as strong as steel and tough as a bulletproof vest, capable of withstanding the same amount of pressure it takes to turn carbon into a diamond.” I don’t know about you but I am very interested right about mow. The Limpets use their teeth to obtain food, but most of all to cling to rocks and boats.
The limpet is yet another example of how miraculous and stunning nature can be, always throwing something else at us-never obeying limits. Nature also likes to throw some of the biggest things into the smallest packages. To put the strength of the limpet teeth into context imagine a piece of spaghetti holding up an adult female hippopotamus. So spider silk is kinda cool, but really???? The Limpet teeth are just going over board here!!!!
The thing that is coolest about the limpet teeth is not just that they are so strong, but that they would still be as strong if they were large too. So imagine that: we could use this amazing material for building safer cars, homes, even boats. The technological advances that can come from these amazing creatures cannot be ignored, however there are some major obstacles to overcome so that we can actually use them. These include how to harvest the tiny teeth of this aquatic snail. The Limpet teeth are also super small, only visible under a microscope. How then are we going to use these snails in anything useful/industrial?
The same question could have been asked for tree sap from the rubber tree, which as we all know found great uses in the modern world of transportation in tires. Who knew that stuff that comes from the same place as does maple syrup could end up in such a different place, on our cars!
Similarly Escargot goes on our plates, but the teeth of a cousin of the popular french snail might end up in our cars. The point here is that we should never limit nature….or science.
outdorrsguy 