Microscopic Animal Inspires New Kind of Glass

[oneh2obabe]

A really weird, really tiny animal — the microscopic tardigrade — is the inspiration behind a new material that could improve the efficiency of things like LED lights and solar cells.



The material under investigation is glass, and tardigrades (sometimes known as "water bears" or "moss piglets") know a thing or two about glass. These water-dwelling critters, which look like tiny blimps with pudgy bodies and eight stubby legs, are capable of shedding almost all of the water in their cells when exposed to extreme conditions, such as heat, cold or even the vacuum of space.

"When you remove the water, they quickly coat themselves in large amounts of glassy molecules," Juan de Pablo, professor of molecular engineering at the University of Chicago and one of the authors of a recent study on the tardigrade-inspired glass, said in a statement. The glassy molecules help the microscopic animals stay in a deathlike state of suspended animation as they float through harsh environments, he added.

Biomimicry: 7 Clever Technologies Inspired by Nature
http://www.livescience.com/28873-cool-t ... ature.html

The tardigrade's ability to produce glasslike molecules under a wide range of temperatures — they can survive temperatures as high as 304 degrees Fahrenheit (151 degrees Celsius) and as low as minus 328 degrees F (minus 200 degrees C) — led the researchers to experiment with the creation of new glass materials under extreme conditions. And this, in turn, led to the development of a glass material that is almost as strange as the creature that inspired its discovery.

Full article
http://www.livescience.com/52133-tardig ... ology.html

[I Think]

Dunno how you come up with these interesting topics, but thank you for doing it.