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Sea urchin could lead to knives that never need sharpening
Telegraph ^ | Dec 25, 2010

Posted on 12/25/2010 5:49:30 PM PST by the invisib1e hand

A sea urchin with teeth that can eat through stone could one day lead to knives which never need sharpening.

The creatures have self-honing teeth which allow them to chomp through stone, carving out hideaways on rocky shores.

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.

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.

Between ...

(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: knives; seaurchin
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To: bgill
If they never need sharpening, then you’d never need a new one resulting in a tremendously negative impact on manufacturing.

I don't know about you but I don't buy a new knife simply because it needs to be sharpened. Self sharpening knifes would wear the blade down just like a manually sharpened blade does, the difference being the owner would never have to do it. Eventually they will wear out.

21 posted on 12/25/2010 6:47:55 PM PST by calex59
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To: plinyelder
But will they ‘break’ when they fall off the counter like the .. Never need sharpening ceramic blades?

Never needs sharpening != won't break if you drop it off the counter top.

Ceramic blades are awesome if used as intended, that is for soft items. Every tool has its specific purpose you can't blame the tool if they are not used as intended or without care. I have never had a days trouble with my Kyocera HIP blade, I love it to death.

Maybe some of them are marketed as not needing sharpening, but most reputable manufacturers will tell you that they eventually do. Kyocera even offers free sharpening if you send the knife to them, but unfortunately only open to Japanese residents where mine came from. So I got a diamond sharpner just for it, but over a year old now and hasn't needed it yet, and that's with constant weekly use.

That said I am looking forward to what they come up with from studying these sea urchins :)
22 posted on 12/25/2010 6:48:23 PM PST by battousai (Conservatives are racist? YES, I hate stupid white liberals.)
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To: the invisib1e hand
"....and believe that technology based on the same principle could create everlasting bladed tools."

Sea urchins die - they are not "everlasting".

23 posted on 12/25/2010 6:55:54 PM PST by azhenfud (The government is not best which secures life and property-there is a more valuable thing-manhood.)
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To: the invisib1e hand

More we learn about nature,The wonder of it all expands even greater.


24 posted on 12/25/2010 6:57:16 PM PST by Cheetahcat ( November 4 2008 ,A date which will live in Infamy.)
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To: the invisib1e hand

The Urchin of Dentist.


25 posted on 12/25/2010 7:00:53 PM PST by Charles Henrickson (Sea it now!)
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To: Rebelbase
So we can have knives that stay sharp by leaving bits of themselves in your food?

Comment from the link.

(sounds like Ginzus will remain viable...)

26 posted on 12/25/2010 7:16:17 PM PST by jonno (Having an opinion is not the same as having the answer...)
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To: UCANSEE2

No, no, no! Over billions of years and thousands of tiny mutations things like this happen. This is proof of evolution and this is the best fit for this environment. Other urchins without this adaptation simply went extinct, but there’s no reason to believe that these urchins were engineered by a higher power...

Unless you mean aliens?


27 posted on 12/25/2010 7:16:21 PM PST by 1010RD (First Do No Harm)
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To: the invisib1e hand


I'd like to thank the sea urchin along with the quail for pooping out the egg that makes the urchin so freaking delicious.
28 posted on 12/25/2010 7:18:06 PM PST by andyk (Hi, my name's Andy, and I am a BF 1942 / Desert Combat junkie.)
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To: wally_bert

At 0:46 is that blood all over the guys sleeve?


29 posted on 12/25/2010 7:18:29 PM PST by 1010RD (First Do No Harm)
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To: the invisib1e hand
Reminds me of a custom lightsaber that someone had built.
By the hilt was the printed warning, "Do Not Sharpen."

30 posted on 12/25/2010 7:27:02 PM PST by RandallFlagg (Let this chant follow BHO everywhere he goes: "You lie. You lie. You lie.")
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To: bgill
If they never need sharpening, then you’d never need a new one resulting in a tremendously negative impact on manufacturing.

Not necessarily. Serviceable cutlery can last for decades - my parents' has - but that durability hasn't stopped it from staying cheap and plentiful.

One of the main sources of demand is new households. Because cutlery is cheap, using hand-me-downs seems miserly. Typically, buying a new set for a new household is preferable. Even in these days, there are many youngsters still moving out of the nest.

31 posted on 12/25/2010 7:44:25 PM PST by danielmryan
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To: shibumi

Bring me that floating fat man, the baron!


32 posted on 12/25/2010 7:45:44 PM PST by BereanBrain
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To: the invisib1e hand
Langoliers ping.


Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.

33 posted on 12/25/2010 7:49:34 PM PST by The Comedian (Government: Saving people from freedom since time immemorial.)
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To: 1010RD

You got me on that one.


34 posted on 12/25/2010 7:50:35 PM PST by wally_bert (It's sheer elegance in its simplicity! - The Middleman)
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To: shibumi

Oh-oh! Now you have to spill some blood after unsheathing it!


35 posted on 12/25/2010 7:59:59 PM PST by roadcat
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To: muawiyah

Well, spacefarers can take Sea Urchins along with them and use them instead of razors to shave with.

Plus, any algae or mold that grows in the spaceship, the sea urchins will eat.

As far as the Box jellyfish, either jellyfish ‘adapted’ to the environment, or they were designed for the environment.

It is amazing what ‘life’ can do to survive. Sometimes they are the oddest things (odd to us, anyway).

Merry Christmas to you!


36 posted on 12/25/2010 8:00:42 PM PST by UCANSEE2 (Lame and ill-informed post)
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To: danielmryan

Me and my wife, newly married at the time, bought a set of cutlery in the mid-1970s. It’s still sharp and we still use them. But we also bought a more expensive better-looking set later on.


37 posted on 12/25/2010 8:04:15 PM PST by roadcat
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To: the invisib1e hand

They still can’t avoid being eaten alive by the French.


38 posted on 12/25/2010 8:08:44 PM PST by aruanan
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To: roadcat

Don’t worry, my weapons are well fed.


39 posted on 12/25/2010 8:32:26 PM PST by shibumi (Trailerpark Viking Overlord Pablo (with His Dark Yet Whimsical Band of Cut Throats))
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To: SampleMan
They are laminated with the hardest metal being a thin sheet for the edge. The metal then gets progressively softer as you move away from the edge. It then wears itself sharp.

My fifty year old Forney welding manual shows how to do this
with hard surfacing rods. Works pretty well on mower blades.

40 posted on 12/25/2010 8:37:32 PM PST by CrazyIvan (What's "My Struggle" in Kenyan?)
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