Naturally strong but light, says researcher on character of knobby starfish

 

Image courtesy of Sesamehoneytart,  CC BY-SA 4.0.  

 

Joel Kontinen

"Cellular solids such as foams or honeycombs can exhibit excellent stiffness or toughness with minimal weight.

 Yang et al. examined ossicles, calcareous skeletal elements from the skeletons of knobby starfish Protoreaster nodosus

 The authors show that the structure consists of a dual-scale microlattice with both an atomic-level calcite and a micro-level diamond-triply periodic minimal surface, as well as gradients in composition and atomic level defects. It is these combined features that enhance the damage tolerance of the ossicles under compression, giving the starfish remarkable specific energy absorption capabilities."

Biomimicry or copying design features seen in living organisms has become a lucrative research field, as the originals are almost always better than what human engineers could have come up with.

Many other features in animals bear the hallmarks of intelligent design. A recent study looked at the zebra’s tail, which is also a very effective tool.

Other examples include the Saiga antelope’s air-conditioning nose, the penguin’s anti-free feathers and an anti-crash system in birds, to mention just a few.

Source:  

Yang, Yang  Et al, 2022. A damage-tolerant, dual-scale, single-crystalline microlattice in the knobby starfish, Protoreaster nodosus Science  10 February.