Piranha-Proof Armor Inspires Tough Materials
JUL 19, 2012
Arapaima fish’s scales provide lessons for synthetic products.
Piranha-Proof Armor Inspires Tough Materials
Get Inside the Science:
- Engineers Find Inspiration for New Materials in Piranha-proof Armor
- The Meyers Group at UCSD
- Piranha vs. Arapaima
Inside Science Buzzwords:
- Piranha - A fish found in South American that is known for its sharp teeth.
- Arapaima - A fish found in South America with specially designed scales that can withstand the bite of a piranha fish.
- Biomimetics - The study of biological materials from living organisms, with the goal of mimicking them to produce better synthetic materials.
- Ceramic - A nonmetallic material that is often strong and hard, but usually brittle and inflexible, except in some cases, such as the natural Arapaima scales.
