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"Discovery Files" Features from the National Science Foundation
"Tacky Bacteria"
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GET A GRIP. THE "DISCOVERY FILES": NEW ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. WHERE WOULD YOU GO TO FIND AN ADHESIVE THAT'S WATERPROOF--AND TWO TO THREE TIMES STRONGER THAN CONVENTIONAL "SUPER"-GLUES? JUST TURN TO NATURE. RESEARCHERS RECENTLY STUDIED THE HOLDING POWER OF A STICKY SUBSTANCE PRODUCED BY A HARMLESS AQUATIC BACTERIUM--AND GENERATED SOME STARTLING REVELATIONS: IT TURNS OUT THAT THE FORCE NEEDED TO TUG THE TINY "CAULOBACTER CRESCENTUS" FROM A GLASS PLATE WAS EQUAL TO ROUGHLY FIVE TONS PER SQUARE INCH. THAT'S STRONG ENOUGH TO SUSPEND 12 ELEPHANTS! CURRENT "SUPER"-GLUES DON'T HAVE THAT KIND OF "STICK-TO-IT-IVE-NESS". THE NICE THING ABOUT THE BACTERIAL GLUE IS THAT ITS ADHESION CAN BE EASILY RELEASED AS WELL--AND WATER DOESN'T SEEM TO AFFECT IT. ENGINEERS ARE LOOKING FOR WAYS TO MASS-PRODUCE THE NATURAL SUBSTANCE, FOR POSSIBLE USE IN MEDICINE, MARINE APPLICATIONS, CONSTRUCTION, AND OTHER "STICKY" SITUATIONS. THE "DISCOVERY FILES" COVERS PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT'S NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH BROUGHT TO YOU BY YOU! LEARN MORE AT "N-S-F"-DOT-GOV.
For additional "Discovery Files" features from the National Science Foundation, click here.
