Iron-plated snail could inspire new armor
Tiny snails sitting on the ocean floor might seem defenseless against a large, determined predator such as a crab. But evolution has provided one species of sea snail with a unique iron-plated armored shell that resists such attacks, new research from MIT shows.By copying aspects of that shell structure, scientists could design better armor for military use, says Christine Ortiz, MIT associate professor of materials science and engineering, who led the study. “Such fundamental knowledge holds great potential for the development of improved biologically inspired structural materials, for example soldier, first-responder and military vehicle armor applications,” says Ortiz.The study of the sea snail’s shell was partly funded by the Army and the Department of Defense and appears this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.Ortiz became interested in the gastropod, known informally as the scaly-foot snail, when its discovery was reported in 2003. The snail lives in...