Posted on 08/20/2003 11:54:57 AM PDT by Pro-Bush
WASHINGTON, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Fiber optic cables -- an amazing invention showing how clever people can be, right? Maybe so, but nature got there first, U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday. A deep-sea sponge with a "skeleton" made out of silica did it first and did it better, the researchers said.
It has spicules -- skeletal structures -- that look very much like modern fiber optic cables, except they don't crack, the team at Bell Laboratories/Lucent Technologies (NYSE:LU - News) in Murray Hill, New Jersey, reported.
Fiber optic cables are long strands of pure glass about the diameter of a human hair that carry digital information over long distances. They are arranged in bundles called optical cables and used to transmit light signals.
"Modern technology cannot yet compete with some of the sophisticated optical systems possessed by biological organisms," Joanna Aizenberg and colleagues wrote in their report, published in the journal Nature.
"Here we show that the spicules of the deep-sea 'glass' sponge Euplectella have remarkable fiber-optical properties, which are surprisingly similar to those of commercial telecommunication fibers -- except that the spicules themselves are formed under normal ambient conditions and have some technological advantages over man-made versions."
The little sponge, known commonly as Venus's flower basket, has an intricately latticed silica cage where pairs of shrimp go to mate.
The spicules are about the same size and shape as fiber optic cables, they wrote. They are made of the same material and bend light in a similar manner.
But while fiber-optic cables often crack and break, the sponge's spicules have built-in braces that toughen the structure.
Studying it could help scientists figure out better ways to make fiber-optic cables and networks, the researchers suggested.
"It's incredible, really. We're looking at these things that are not known to be visual animals yet we're finding these fascinating optical properties that are built into their bodies," Kochevar said.
Good design wouldn't you say?
Scientific American has picked up on it as well. Amazing Sponges
Here's an interesting little 'snippet' from their article:
"each spicule is capped with a cross-shaped antenna of sorts. The flat spokes of the antenna capture light, which then travels directly down the silica tube of the spicule to the garden of green thriving at the base."
Boy that evolution sure is crafty. And what a choice of words the author used!
FRegards, M_M
Taking inspiration from the age of telecommunications, Italian scientists recently discovered the secret of the symbionts. It turns out that some sponges have a system of fiber optics that allows them to gather what little light reaches their murky depths and to direct it to the algae.
From: Scientific American
When evolutionists can prove to me that needing a million dollars results in a million dollars being deposited in my bank account, I will start believing in evolution.
Did the Clintoons take up SCUBA diving???
wow !
Sponges like our treasure have an interesting commensal relationship with some species of shrimp. Pairs of shrimp penetrate the sponge skeleton and upon growing are unable to escape. They spend their entire lives in this "sponge prison". In olden Japan, our treasure was frequently offered as a wedding present to symbolize the idea "until death do us part".
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