Superstrong sea sponge may assist construct higher spacecraft

The intricate construction of this marine sponge is already mimicked in engineering and structure, and now we all know we have been lacking a trick that may make our designs even stronger

By Gege Li

Picture courtesy of
Matheus Fernandes/Harvard SEAS

THIS extraordinary, intricate marine sponge that lives deep within the Pacific Ocean may encourage even stronger, but light-weight supplies to be used in something from skyscrapers and bridges to spacecraft.

The Venus’s flower basket (Euplectella aspergillum) is classed as a glass sponge as a result of the lattice skeleton that helps its tubular physique is made from silica. The skeleton’s chessboard-like geometry, fashioned from diagonal struts fused to an underlying grid, is mimicked in architectural design to attain issues like evenly spreading hundreds throughout a bridge or shelf.

But regardless that the approach has been used for hundreds of years, …