Comments on: A squid's beak is a marvel of biological engineering

By: Monado

Monado — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 05:28:58 +0000

Very clever, these gradients!

By: clear

clear — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 15:03:25 +0000

Is is not that the beak is being regularly used by an animal enough to keep it from fouling? I’m sure there’s self grooming that goes on in the squid mouth as well, ants, racoons, even humans spend lots of time grooming them selves.

By: mike spear

mike spear — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 00:12:04 +0000

great read for sure. I especially loved the articles by Scott Cassell that you linked to. Some really interesting experiences he has had with some bigger squid.

By: caynazzo

caynazzo — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 20:30:02 +0000

Excellent and exciting post. So the melanin pigmentation appears in the instance of the squid’s beak to be a byproduct of Dopa rather than a functional part of the structure.

By: Russell

Russell — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 20:01:20 +0000

The real question is what keeps it from fouling. Marine engineers aren’t looking for materials that are harder, stiffer, and tougher. They’re looking for materials that won’t grow all the stuff that grows on most things in the seas.