		<div class="wpcnt">
			<div class="wpa">
				<span class="wpa-about">Advertisements</span>
				<div class="u top_amp">
							<amp-ad width="300" height="265"
		 type="pubmine"
		 data-siteid="111265417"
		 data-section="2">
		</amp-ad>
				</div>
			</div>
		</div><p><a href="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/urchins-key-to-eversharp-knives.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full" title="Sea urchins' self-honing teeth may hold the key to the creation of knives with a self-sharpening edge" src="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/min-urchins-key-to-eversharp-knives.jpg" alt="Sea urchins' self-honing teeth may hold the key to the creation of knives with a self-sharpening edge"/></a></p>
<p>A sea urchin secret could one day lead to knives which never need sharpening.</p>
<p>The creatures have self-honing teeth which allow them to chomp through stone, carving out hideaways on rocky shores.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Between the crystals are layers of weaker organic material. As each hard layer becomes blunt it breaks off, exposing a fresh crystalline surface beneath. In this way, the sea urchin&#8217;s teeth stay sharp.</p>
<p>Professor Pupa Gilbert, who led the US team from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said: &#8220;The organic layers are the weak links in the chain. There are breaking points at predetermined locations built into the teeth. It is a concept similar to perforated paper in the sense that the material breaks at these predetermined weak spots.&#8221;</p>
<p>The crystals come in two forms, plates and fibres, arranged crosswise in a tough &#8220;biomineral&#8221; mosaic.</p>
<p>Prof Gilbert, whose research appears in the journal Advanced Functional Material, added: &#8220;Now that we know how it works, the knowledge could be used to develop methods to fabricate tools that could actually sharpen themselves with use.</p>
<p>&#8220;The mechanism used by the urchin is the key. By shaping the object appropriately and using the same strategy the urchin employs, a tool with a self-sharpening edge could, in theory, be created.&#8221;</p>
			<div style="padding-bottom:15px;" class="wordads-tag" data-slot-type="belowpost">
				<div id="atatags-dynamic-belowpost-68ed83a9ed56d">
					<script type="text/javascript">
						window.getAdSnippetCallback = function () {
							if ( false === ( window.isWatlV1 ?? false ) ) {
								// Use Aditude scripts.
								window.tudeMappings = window.tudeMappings || [];
								window.tudeMappings.push( {
									divId: 'atatags-dynamic-belowpost-68ed83a9ed56d',
									format: 'belowpost',
								} );
							}
						}

						if ( document.readyState === 'loading' ) {
							document.addEventListener( 'DOMContentLoaded', window.getAdSnippetCallback );
						} else {
							window.getAdSnippetCallback();
						}
					</script>
				</div>
			</div>
Discover more from London Glossy Post
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
