Is The Secret To Better Adhesives Inside A Remora's Head?
Stuck On You Tibor Marcinek via Wikimedia CommonsThese little suckers could inspire a new superglue. The remora, also known as a suckerfish, attaches itself to sharks, whales, turtles and any other sea creature it can grab onto with its suction disk, feeding off its hosts' parasites and leftover meals and in generally enjoying the comforts of a free ride. The name remora means "delay" in Latin, because ancient sea farers believed the fish held up their ships. Now, scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology are studying the structure that allows the remora to latch on to its host, and plan to develop a new reversible adhesive inspired by the system. Their research was presented at the Materials Research Society's fall meeting and has been published in the society's proceedings. Bio-inspired adhesives have previously taken cues from some of nature's other strong stickers, from geckos to tree frogs to mussels....