Scientists and engineers are getting some wild ideas from the wild kingdom
Plastic as hard (or as soft) as a sea cucumber
When normally soft and pliable sea cucumbers are alarmed, they secrete chemicals that stiffen their skin in a matter of seconds, acting as a sort of body armor. Scientists borrowed the basic idea and used their own ingredients to make a plastic material that goes hard to soft when exposed to water. The material is being developed for biomedical implants such as microelectrodes for the brain. Other potential applications might one day give Viagra some competition.
Check out nine more innovations inspired by nature:
Gecko glue: www.happynews.com/inspired-innovations-gecko-glue.htm
Speedy swimsuit: www.happynews.com/inspired-innovations-speedy-swimsuits
Jet sprayers: www.happynews.com/inspired-innovations-jet-sprayers
Drones: www.happynews.com/inspired-innovations-drones
Repellant materials: www.happynews.com/inspired-innovations-repellant-materials
Bullet trains: www.happynews.com/inspired-innovations-bullet-train
Fishy armor: www.happynews.com/inspired-innovations-fishy-armor
Whiter whites: www.happynews.com/inspired-innovations-white-album
Boxfish-styled cars: www.happynews.com/inspired-innovations-boxfish-cars

© 2008 msnbc.com
Reproduced with permission of MSNBC, from Ten innovations inspired by nature by John Roach, October 21, 2008; permission conveyed through Copyright Clearance Center, Inc.

You can read this story in its original location at: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27285982