The secrets of the strange tail seahorse – El Siglo de Torreón

animal’s tail is round and soft, but there are exceptions, such as the seahorse, which is square and hard. A team of experts has discovered the reason for this singularity, which can serve as inspiration for the creation of robots and medical devices.

A square tail formed with overlapping segments makes this appendix as reinforcement works better than a traditional round shape, according to a study published in the journal Science.

The Tail seahorse is made about 36 segments square, each made up of four plates in the form of L that can slide or swing.

The assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the American University of Clemson Michael Porter led the team that wondered about the curious way and found that “square tails are best when you need to grab something or performing shield.”

As if something was missing, square plates Appendix form that makes it, in turn, stiffer, stronger and more resistant to stress, while it is normal that one of these characteristics make the other to weaken.

The square plates form tail sea horse moving only one degree when crushed and therefore, slide, however, the circular plates queues other animals two degrees so that slide while rotating move .

The result is that square plates are able to absorb a lot more energy before permanent damage begins to occur, the study says.

In reaching this conclusion, researchers conducted various queuing models, those formed by a superposition of square segments, such as the caballlitos, and other segments made of overlapping round a model that does not exist in nature, not normal as the overlapping segments.

“New technologies such as 3D printing allow us to reproduce biological designs, but also create hypothetical models of designs that do not exist in nature” so that you can compare and get ideas for new applications in engineering “Porter said.

The tail seahorse when twisting takes less time and uses less energy to return to its original size as a round, which experts believe is used to protect against damage .

In addition, the square tail segments provide more points of contact when gripping an object and way of bending allows the animal to have that object in his line of sight.

Porter is investigating how these features tail seahorse can inspire everyday tools, for example gripping robotic arms or new types of catheters.