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Armor Of The Future: Fish Scales?

by Peter Mychalcewycz on July 29, 2008 at 11:03 AM



In a bid to create the armor of the future, engineers at MIT are going back in time. Way back.

They are studying the Polypterus senegalus, a fish species believed to have been in existence for close to 100 million years. Specifically, researchers are interested in the biological makeup of the scales, which have obviously proven effective at warding off attacks over the years. It seems the particular combination of chemicals in each scale make them especially durable. The hope is that this research will result in a prototype for body and vehicular armor.

The project was funded by the U.S. Army and was code-named Project "fish and chips."

Okay, so the last part of that isn't true, but it was funded by the army. [Source: OhGizmo!]



Tags: future tech, FutureTech, military, upcoming

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