What Scorpions Have To Teach Aircraft Designers

First time accepted submitter elloGov writes "The north African desert scorpion, Androctonus australis, is a hardy creature. Most animals that live in deserts dig burrows to protect themselves from the sand-laden wind. Not Androctonus; it usually toughs things out at the surface. Yet when the sand whips by at speeds that would strip paint away from steel, the scorpion is able to scurry off without apparent damage thanks to the unique structure of its carapace. Dr Han Zhiwu of Jilin University and colleagues have found that surface irregularities based on the scorpion's exoskeleton could substantially minimize atmospheric dust damage to aircraft."

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Next source of inspiration

[exploder]

UFO's have been using the "disk" design for decades, now engineers are looking at scorpions. Clearly, "black flap" technology is the logical next step.

I will always love you.

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, Lucy, I guess that you received my email with the link to this. Sorry for using Slashdot, but I knew that this wouldn't get deleted.

Please don't feel sad that I decided to kill myself. It's not your fault, and I hope that you don't take it personally. I know that you are not going to have any issues at all finding anyone else. Hopefully you can find someone superior to me in every way. I just can't take the suffering anymore. I am sorry that you are suffering now. I understand that I am a coward for not sticking it out and hoping that things will get better, but I have completely lost faith. My suffering is never going to end, only get worse.

To Mel, Fuck you! I swear to god you are a greedy fuck. Why can I not get a raise for 4 years, but you get a company car, an extra week vacation, and quarterly bonuses? I live with my fucking parents now because my rent went up, but what a fucking suprise, all of my wages got gobbled up by health care and the rising cost of gas, food, electricity and medicine. Oh I know why you get all of that.. You sit in an office and fucking jack off all day, while your entire team gets fucked in the ass.. A penny saved on us is $1000 earned to you, right?

To Danielle... You fucking cunt bitch. You move out and take my cash stash, my tv and my computer. I could live with that. WHY THE FUCK DID YOU HAVE TO TAKE MY CAT?? She's my FUCKING CAT!!! I GOT HER BEFORE YOU EVEN SHOWED UP YOU FUCKING CUNT!

To everyone else at Dean's.. Just get the fuck out. I don't care how you do it. Get another job, kill youself binge drinking, I don't care.

Death is quick and painless when done properly. Living is a constant struggle.

I love you, Lucy.

Re:I will always love you.

[CrankinOut]

Dude!

Get some counseling!

Life isn't neat and tidy, and sometimes it's downright challenging. But there is usually a way to make things work.

Giving up is only cheating yourself out of you future opportunities.

Suffering is an attitude. You can choose not to suffer by changing your focus from what makes you unhappy to what makes you happy. Whatever you focus on seems to be larger.

And about the cat, remember, Dogs have masters, cats have staff.

Good luck.

Re:I will always love you.

[petman]

Dude, if you haven't yet killed yourself, here's some advice - rather than kill yourself, have you considered killing other people? I'm pretty sure it's more fun.

Re:I will always love you.

[thetoadwarrior]

I've seen better trolls.

Re:I will always love you.

[RenderSeven]

So, like, Lucy is available now?