• Mollusk shell secrets unlocked: Will it signal a new generation of eyewear?
    4 replies, posted
[url]http://www.techtimes.com/articles/5017/20140401/mollusk-shell-secrets-unlocked-will-it-signal-a-new-generation-of-eyewear.htm[/url] [quote]Mollusk shells are tough - they easily withstand most attacks from predators. Yet, the shell of the windowpane oyster is also transparent. This odd combination has caught the attention of biologists for years, but researchers have just uncovered the mystery of their unique structure. This new discovery could signal the arrival of a new age of eyewear. Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) subjected these mollusk shells to a diamond tip press. They used this tool to create indents in the target and examined the marks using an electron microscope and other instruments. Ling Li, a graduate student at MIT, along with Professor Christine Ortiz, noticed fracturing broke the shell into pairs of crystals. These diamond-shaped calcite structures exhibited mirror images, like the wings of a bird. Windowpane oyster shells were seen rebuilding damage using an atomic process known as twinning. This process involves two neighboring crystals growing together in specific molecular configurations. [/quote] obligatory [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge's_law_of_headlines"]No.[/URL] But really, this is a really cool concept. Soon, our glasses might repair themselves! It sure would be nice if they incorporated something like this into monitors and mobile device displays.
[quote]Windowpane oyster shells were seen rebuilding damage using an atomic process known as [B]twinning[/B]. This process involves two neighboring crystals growing together in specific molecular configurations.[/quote] :quagmire: [editline]1st April 2014[/editline] Imagine getting a chip on your window and it just heals itself. It would be really cool.
Evolution is the best engineer. Takes a really long time, but it gets the job done. Let's just hope it wont charge by the hour.
Optometrists HATE them! Click to see how a man saved THOUSANDS with a mollusk!
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