Limpet teeth 'beat spider silk' in strength test
Engineers in the UK have found that limpets' teeth consist of the strongest biological material ever tested.
Limpets use a tongue bristling with tiny teeth to scrape food off rocks and into their mouths, often swallowing particles of rock in the process.
The teeth are made of a mineral-protein composite, which the researchers tested in tiny fragments in the laboratory.
They found it was stronger than spider silk, as well as all but the very strongest of man-made materials.
Duncan Kennedy reports.
18 Feb 2015
- From the section Science & Environment