astro
January 2, 2015, 4:09pm
1
Missed this story in 2014 and didn’t see a dope search note of it. File under news you can’t use … at least today.
After 150 Years, Scientists Finally Know How Barnacle Glue Works
It’s actually surprisingly simple. The key to the super sticky cement barnacles create is actually the tiny drop of oil that their larvae release before attaching to a surface. This droplet clears the water from the surface, enabling them to lay down a phosphoprotein adhesive. Previously, scientists thought that the two substances mixed together to create a bond, but now it’s clear that the oil and the adhesive serve two very distinct roles.
“It’s an incredibly clever natural solution to this problem of how to deal with a water barrier on a surface,” said Dr. Nick Aldred, who authored a paper on the breakthrough that was published in Nature Communications this week. “It will change the way we think about developing bio-inspired adhesives that are safe and already optimized to work in conditions similar to those in the human body, as well as marine paints that stop barnacles from sticking.”
Technical details here
Ruken
January 2, 2015, 4:36pm
2
I missed this one too. We’ve known the chemicals involved, but could never get it to work. Cool stuff.
Sounds mundane but actually it’s a bit of a breakthrough, and I know the scientific community has been frustrated at how long it’s taken to crack their secret.
Considering there’s so damn many of them … Are barnacles possibly a decent food source?
scr4
January 3, 2015, 6:45pm
5
The goose barnacle , aka percebe, is eaten in Spain. And the similar Japanese goose barnacle is eaten in some Asian countries.
jayjay
January 3, 2015, 9:53pm
6
First thing I thought of when I read the title of this thread…