Ants Are Even Stronger Than You Imagine

Katharine Gammon, ISNS Contributor | February 21, 2014 02:20am ET

(ISNS) – While the world watches Olympians skate, jump and fly through the air in Sochi, researchers have turned their eyes to a much tinier but equally impressive athlete: the humble field ant.

New research published last month showed that the neck joint of a common field ant can withstand 5,000 times the ant’s weight. Previously, ants had been photographed carrying dead baby birds, so it was estimated they could carry around 1,000 times their weight. But the new numbers surprised even the researchers.

“We guessed that the ants could withstand about 1,000 times their weight, so we figured we’d start there,” said Carlos Castro, a mechanical and aerospace engineer at The Ohio State University in Columbus. “Initially we didn’t think this ant had any extreme capabilities, but they surprised us.”

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‘Weightlifting’ weaver ants taught to carry pencils and food

Perhaps instead of ‘as strong as an ox’, the saying should go ‘as strong as an ant’.

These incredible pictures show just how mighty the tiny insects can be, as they lift items several thousand times their own weight using their teeth.

Photographer Thanh Ha Bui, 31, decided to test the weaver ants – famed for their weightlifting skills – as they marched across a branch in his parents’ back garden in Vietnam.

He started off small, experimenting with pieces of food and leaves, but soon moved onto weightier objects such as chillies and pencils.

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Mysteries of Spider Silk Strength Unraveled

Jan. 27, 2013 — Scientists at ASU are celebrating their recent success on the path to understanding what makes the fiber that spiders spin -- weight for weight -- at least five times as strong as piano wire. They have found a way to obtain a wide variety of elastic properties of the silk of several intact spiders' webs using a sophisticated but non-invasive laser light scattering technique.

"Spider silk has a unique combination of mechanical strength and elasticity that make it one of the toughest materials we know," said Professor Jeffery Yarger of ASU's Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and lead researcher of the study. "This work represents the most complete understanding we have of the underlying mechanical properties of spider silks."

Spider silk is an exceptional biological polymer, related to collagen (the stuff of skin and bones) but much more complex in its structure. The ASU team of chemists is studying its molecular structure in an effort to produce materials ranging from bulletproof vests to artificial tendons.

The extensive array of elastic and mechanical properties of spider silks in situ, obtained by the ASU team, is the first of its kind and will greatly facilitate future modeling efforts aimed at understanding the interplay of the mechanical properties and the molecular structure of silk used to produce spider webs.

Continued:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130128104741.htm

Sea Urchin's Spiny Strength Revealed

ScienceDaily (Oct. 2, 2012) — For the first time, a team of Australian engineers has modelled the microscopic mechanics of a sea urchin's spine, gaining insight into how these unusual creatures withstand impacts in their aquatic environment.

The skeleton of the purple-spined sea urchin (Centrostephanus rodgersii), found in tidal waters along the coast of New South Wales, has many long spines extending from its core. These spiky features are used for walking, sensing their environment, and for protection against predators and rough surf.

The long hollow spines are made from a single crystal of calcite -- which is essentially glass -- arranged in a porous, intricate structure. Material scientists are interested in the chemical composition of these spines, but there has been no exploration of how they respond to mechanical stress.

Read on:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121003094642.htm