Wisdom Of The Week

"The list of possible breakthroughs inspired by shark physiology is a lengthy one.In addition to boasting all of the ordinary senses that humans have, sharks possess something called electroreception. A row of small holes that runs from head to tail picks up weak vibrations. This network, along with tiny, fluid-filled sacs in their snouts and chins known as ampullae of Lorenzini, helps sharks find fish buried in the sand because they can detect the electromagnetic fields generated by a fish's beating heart or gills. Other fish have a lateral line to sense movement, but they do not have the gelatinous material that serves as a conductor for electric vibrations, radiating these signals out to a shark's nervous system. Scientists across the United States are hoping to capitalize on sharks' unique voltage-charged gel for practical purposes.

University of San Francisco physics professor Brandon R. Brown has extracted the material from dead sharks to gauge its thermal sensitivity, while Case Western Reserve University nanoengineering professor Alexis Abramson has explored developing a synthetic gel with similar thermoelectric properties that could be used to convert waste heat, from devices such as a car engine, into usable electricity.

Then there are sharks' denticles, otherwise known as "skin teeth", which cover their bodies. Made up of crowns covered with hard enamel, they reduce friction by forcing the water to flow in channels, allowing sharks to move swiftly through the water. The type of denticles a shark has depends on the species: Lighter denticles maximize a shark's speed while providing slightly less protection from a predatory attack. Basking sharks have crowns that point in all directions, while short-fin mako sharks – some of the fastest swimmers in the sea – have smaller, lighter denticles. They are as strong as steel and carry an added benefit: By minimizing water turbulence, they allow sharks to hunt better by moving through the sea in near silence.

Ralph Liedert, a researcher at the University of Applied Sciences in Bremen, Germany, pioneered the idea of covering ships with artificial sharkskin to help them move smoothly by dramatically reducing biofouling (not to be confused with the more familiar biofueling). Biofouling, which occurs when barnacles, mussels, and algae latch onto ships, increases a vessel's drag resistance by as much as 15 percent. Liedert has produced an imitation sharkskin from elastic silicone that would reduce this fouling by 67 per cent, and he estimates that once a ship reached four to five knots, nearly all of these creatures would fly off the hull's surface."

- More here on what we can learn from Sharks