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Insect Substance Synthesized For Science
An anonymous reader wrote to mention an article discussing the successful synthesis of resilin, a super-elastic material used by insects to perform amazing feats. From the article: "Dr. Elvin predicted the substance would lead to everything from artificial arteries to spinal parts that would not wear out despite being flexed 100 million times. 'That's how many times you move your back in 50 or 60 years,' he said. It could also be used in micro electronics. 'We even imagine putting it in running shoes.'"
This all sounds very good but how cost efficient will large, industry scale production of resin be? Just because they can successfully reproduce its chemical structure does not mean that they can do it in a cost efficient enough manner to break into any of the mentioned markets.
Now lets see another invention go overseas while our anti science government sits on its's hands ...
Anothr invntion go ovrsas? Invntions don't gt outsourcd...thy gt invntd. Nxt tim, try a littl hardr with the anti-govrnmnt rhtoric.
Spiders produce super-strong silk, other insects produce this perfect rubber substance. What is it about insects that they produce such desireable materials? Are there more insect substances equally amazing?
AccountKiller