Researchers excited to study sea cucumber's bizarre defense
1 年前
The ocean is full of bizarre and fascinating animals that we barely understand. Even the seemingly defenseless creatures that slowly inch their way along the ocean floor are capable of defending against predators. This is a world where the balance between predator and prey is a fine line and it can change in an instant.
This is a species of sea cucumber with one of nature's most imaginative and baffling means of protecting itself. When threatened, it shoots strings of sticky material from its anus to tangle up and defeat would be predators. The cucumber squeezes its body to create a rip in an internal wall so that short threads, called Cuvierian tubules, can be ejected. But as soon as the threads are exposed to sea water, they stretch to more than 20 times their original length. The tubules become sticky when they are in contact with any surface, such as the body of an animal that is trying to eat them.
Researchers studied the cucumbers and made careful observations of the expelled tubules. They anesthetized sea cucumbers and surgically removed some of the shorter tubules that had not been expelled. They studied the cells and found some that were completely expected, such as the ones found in other echinoderms, like starfish. Other cells in the tubules were completely unexpected and they behaved in ways that surprised researchers.
Now, engineers are studying these cells in an effort to improve technology and create new substances that stretch and stiffen like the collagenous material found in the tubules. The goal is to create shape-shifting materials that change form when we need them to.
As we learn more about the ocean and the creatures that live there, we learn more about how to use the imaginative genius of nature in our own world to help us in many ways. Scientists and biologists are constantly applying new findings from the natural world to combat disease and illness, prolong life, and make our use of energy more efficient. A seemingly unimportant animal, like this sea cucumber, often plays a more complex and vital role than we realize in the health of our planet. Too often, we learn the importance of something only after it has been threatened or lost completely.
相關影片推薦
- 1:47誰替吳秉叡代投票? 葉元之公布影片:疑似楊曜|#鏡新聞鏡新聞52,476 次觀看・18 小時前
- 1:47不鏽鋼管廠第三代開2千萬法拉利 國道自撞爆胎東森新聞影音19,045 次觀看・16 小時前
- 2:21全球最年輕貨幣辛巴威「ZiG」曾一條麵包5億元 盼新幣解決通膨危機Yahoo奇摩(國際通)37,513 次觀看・15 小時前
- 2:09追到加拿大! 美鷹會.華青幫聯手追債貴婦奈奈華視影音82,762 次觀看・18 小時前
- 1:41又有「都更孤島」! 萬華透天厝將被大樓包夾東森新聞影音8,472 次觀看・1 天前
- 1:35殯葬大亨董娘出車禍 家屬控肇事者毒駕惹禍|#鏡新聞鏡新聞58,001 次觀看・12 小時前
- 1:57貓貓誤入退貨包裹 遭寄回數百英里「亞馬遜倉庫」六天沒吃沒喝幸脫困Yahoo奇摩(國際通)1,980 次觀看・15 小時前
- 6:29精華|哪些星座E人最多?射手不負眾望奪冠啦~唐綺陽談星室21,643 次觀看・2 天前
- 1:4131歲接家業! 殷琪婚姻兩度觸礁又未婚生子民視影音549,373 次觀看・2 天前
- 2:24烏克蘭98歲阿嬤逃戰火 靠拖鞋、拐杖獨自步行10公里 從「二戰存活如今卻一無所有」Yahoo奇摩(國際通)19,600 次觀看・19 小時前