Researchers have discovered that the defensive slime exuded by hagfish may be a source of high-performance protein fibers that could replace petrochemical-based polymers, such as nylon and plastic fibers, and fabrics woven from them. (Source: Wikimedia Commons/Peter Southwood)
I like this development but it needs to be renamed before it hits the public.
Slime fish silk isn't appealing. I don't see any benefit yet. If it can be as strong as spider silk in the future, that would be great. It's too early to have an opinion or comment.
The video of the self-asembing fibers was eye-opening and looked promising. I like the fact that this product could potentially displace some petro-chemical based polymers.
This could indeed be a valuable discovery, although it appears that quite a bit of process development will be needed. Possibly the best part may be the independence from petro-chemical feedstock requirements, although we were not told just what the feedstock does come from.
There should be quite a range of applications for the final product, though.
As for the name, why not call then "armor-fish", which has a much better ring to it.
I couldn't agree with you more, Nadine, about the name "fish slime". It's pretty gross. William, for industrial production levels the proteins would eventually be created by bacteria, as stated in the article. The current work is figuring out the best process for creating them to ensure sufficient strength and stiffness.
Ann, my point is that the bacteria need to feed on someting and the specific needs will dwtermine exactly what that feedstock winds up being. As with most discoveries, the moving from a laboratory operation into a production environment is the bigger part of the task. Sometimes the adaptation to production winds up being the show-stopper.
Chuck, do I detect a slight sense of irony in your comment? In any case, I agree--I've been amazed at the variety of sources, in nature and elsewhere, for potential materials.
A fascinating article, Ann. It never fails to impress me the lengths researchers will go as well as the creativity they use to find sources in nature for new materials and energy sources. It also shows just what an impressive force nature is and how complex it can be for humans to try to recreate natural materials, even with great ingenuity.
Andrew Morris designed a circuit that could detect a stroke victim's groan and convert the sound into a signal so caregivers would know when help was needed.
New disc magnet motors fit into the design trend of stepping up to closed loop performance while maintaining the cost advantage of stepper motor technology.
At the Design News webinar on June 27, learn all about aluminum extrusion: designing the right shape so it costs the least, is simplest to manufacture, and best fits the application's structural requirements.
On April 21, NASA launched a novel project, putting into orbit three satellites that employ an off-the-shelf commercial smartphone as the control system.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
To save this item to your list of favorite Design News content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
If you found this interesting or useful, please use the links to the services below to share it with other readers. You will need a free account with each service to share an item via that service.
Tweet This
0 
