Ocean Sponge May Be Best for Fiber Optics

TheViffer writes "ABC News is reporting that scientists say they've identified an ocean sponge, living in the darkness of the deep sea, that grows thin glass fibers capable of transmitting light better than industrial fiber optic cables used for telecommunication. 'You can actually tie a knot in these natural biological fibers and they will not break - it's really quite amazing,' said Joanna Aizenberg, who led the research at Bell Laboratories."

Comments

Why

[slasher_14]

Nature does things for a reason...I wonder why this creature uses fibre optic to anchor itself to the ocean floor. I doubt it is using the fibre optic to communicate...Perhaps it is using it because it happens to also be very flexible and strong at the same time, the fact that it could also be used for transporting light is a co-incidence.

Re:7 inches long!

[spun]

Um, I know this was meant as joke, but the point is that the sponge makes the fibers at low temperatures, doped with sodium, and if materials engineers could figure out how, they could precisely control the physical and optical properties of manmade fibers.

We need a new acronym for "Read the WHOLE freakin' article." RTWFA, man, RTWFA