A strange mollusk, affectionately known as “stray meat flour”, has rare teeth. iron According to a new study, the mineral, previously found only along rocky shores.
Researchers have found rare iron ore – called Santabarbarite – in the teeth of rock-grazed molluscs Cryptochitone stellar, It is nicknamed the “Wandering Flesh of the Flesh” because it looks up to 14 inches long (36 cm) with its oval-shaped, reddish-brown shelled body.
The discovery sheds light on how C. Stellar Rocks can scrape food, researchers said. ” [Santabarbaraite] It has high water content, which makes it solid with low density. We think it can harden your teeth without adding too much weight, ”study lead author Dirk Zoster, associate professor of materials science and engineering at Northwestern University in Illinois, Said in a press release.
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Wandering meat, which is also named Giant pacific chiton and giant chiton on rubber foot, The largest known species of chiton, is a marine mollusk with an oval, flattened body consisting of a shell made of overlapping plates like a bedbug. Chitons are known for their remarkably stiff teeth, which are associated with their soft, flexible tongue-shaped radula. While searching for food, chitons scratch their teeth-covered radula on rocks to catch algae and other food.
Jöster and his colleagues had previously studied chiton teeth, but they wanted to know more about the stylelet – a hollow structure that looks like the root of a human tooth, and which ” [chitons’] Ultra-hard, rigid tooth head with flexible radula membrane, ”the researchers wrote in the study. They analyzed it C. StellarChoppers with some high-tech techniques including synchrotron light source and transmission electron microscopy.
These analyzes revealed Santabarabaiit in the upper style of Chiton. “This mineral has only been seen in very small amounts in geological samples and has never been seen before in a biological setting,” said Joster.
Researchers said the discovery shows how this strange meatloaf uses its entire tooth to gather food, not just ultra-hard, durable cups.
Subsequently, the team attempted to recreate the chemical makeup of the stylus with inks designed for 3D printing. The study’s first author, Linus Stegbauer, a former postdoctoral fellow in Jöster’s laboratory, developed inks with iron and phosphate ions mixed with biopolymer derived from chiton’s teeth. Stegbauer, now a senior researcher at the Institute for Interfacial Process Engineering and Plasma Technology at the University of Stuttgart in Germany, and his colleagues found that the experiment worked – ink-printed ultra-hard materials, hard and durable, until just before printing Scientists mixed.
“As nanoparticles are formed” Bio polymer“It becomes stronger and more viscous,” said Joster. This mixture can then be easily used for printing. Subsequent drying in air results in the final hardening and hardening of the material. ”
The study was published online in the journal on Monday 31 May Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
Originally posted on 45Seconds.fr.
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