More purple sea urchin pics
Posted on 12/25/2010 5:49:30 PM PST by the invisib1e hand
A sea urchin with teeth that can eat through stone could one day lead to knives which never need sharpening.
The creatures have self-honing teeth which allow them to chomp through stone, carving out hideaways on rocky shores.
Scientists have now learned how the urchins keep their teeth razor-sharp and believe that technology based on the same principle could create everlasting bladed tools.
Analysing the teeth of the California purple sea urchin, the scientists found a complex structure of layered calcite crystals held together by super-hard natural cement.
Between ...
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
sears is on it..........
But will they ‘break’ when they fall off the counter like the .. Never need sharpening ceramic blades?
Ronco Ginszu Knife sales most impacted.
So, Crom Fayer sword +6 is it then? I shall have to remedy a spell to counteract this.
(bioware joke)
“the scientists found a complex structure of layered calcite crystals held together by super-hard natural cement.”
Almost as if someone(thing) designed them.
But will the knives have the patented Accu-grip Control Ball?
"How much would you pay?!"
"But wait, there's more!!"
But seriously, if this could be made to work it would have a tremendously positive impact on manufacturing.
btt
Like a self-cleaning oven?
Their bite is worse than their bark!
Hmmm, self sharpening knives aren’t exactly a new idea, just expensive to make.
They are laminated with the hardest metal being a thin sheet for the edge. The metal then gets progressively softer as you move away from the edge. It then wears itself sharp.
There's a Box jellyfish with two totally different kinds of eyes ~ which is rare enough anywhere, but one of the two types DOESN'T WORK. It may have a different purpose ~ maybe as a display light in a control console.
Look, after the formation of the Oceans several billions of years ago just all sorts of things had to fall out of hyperspace ~ and still be here.
Remember, spacefaring humanity is going to take living repair kits and parts making tools with them ~
If they never need sharpening, then you’d never need a new one resulting in a tremendously negative impact on manufacturing.
Tools which cut materials are the heart of manufacturing, mining, farming, all sorts of things throughout the productive economy. A great deal of time and money goes into keeping those tools sharp. And a whole lot of productivity is lost by dull tools.
Never sharpened, but the blade will wear down quickly. Sea urchins deal with this via replacement since they are alive. Blades? Not so much.
Now, make a living hardened steel blade that stays eternally sharp and grows to replace lost material, and we’re talking! Meanwhile, I’ll stick with hardened steel, high carbon steel, various alloys, and the like. And a good sharpener...
Forget the sea urchin.
What you need is a crysknife made from the tooth of
an Arrakis Sandworm.
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