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The earth is a world of life rich in species. In addition to human beings, there are more than millions of various creatures. In order to adapt to different living environments, creatures have evolved different survivability capabilities. Each creature has its own ability to survive and can survive in this complex biological world.
Different creatures have different survivability capabilities. In nature, some creatures have particularly strong survivability capabilities. For example, the water bear worm, which we all know, can be said to be the most tenacious life discovered by scientists. Survive in 150℃ high temperature and -100℃ low temperature environment, and is not afraid of terrifying cosmic radiation and various pressures.
So is the water bear invincible? Of course not. Any kind of creature has a strong side, and nature also has a fragile side. The water bear is very capable of adapting to various environments, but it also has a fatal weakness, that is, the physical defense is very weak, and we can crush it to death with a simple finger.
Friends who like to play games know that each profession has its own advantages and disadvantages. For characters with strong physical defense, spell defense is often very low. The natural world is also the same. Some creatures can survive in various environments, but their physical defense capabilities are very weak and will be easily crushed by other creatures.
Although some creatures are not very capable of adapting to complex environments, they have very strong defenses, which makes their natural enemies unable to attack and can survive better. The protagonist we are going to talk about today is such a “physical defense” super creature, its name is the Demon Iron Ingot Beetle.
We all know that beetles basically have a hard shell, which is their defensive equipment. It is precisely with this shell that the beetle’s survivability is relatively strong. In the beetle family, the demon iron ingot beetle is undoubtedly the king. In terms of appearance, its appearance is really ordinary, not as gorgeous as the ladybug, and it does not have agile skills.
Its appearance looks like a small piece of rough bark or stone, and its length is only more than 1 cm. It is a very small creature. Don’t look at its inconspicuous appearance, but this beetle is known as a super small tank, and its survivability is almost invincible in the entire population. When facing natural enemies, they are not at all shocked.
No matter how the predators toss, they can’t cause harm to them. In the end, they can only give up. Scientists have done experiments, and the demon iron ingot beetle can withstand the crush of cars. So how did such a powerful physical defense capability come into being, and what secrets does its carapace hold?
For the beetle with such a strong physical defense ability, it naturally attracted the attention of scientists and began to study its secrets. David Kiselus, a materials scientist from the University of California, set up a special research team to start the research and exploration of the demon iron ingot beetle.
The research team first performed a steel plate compression test on the entire exoskeleton of the demon iron beetle to see how much force it can withstand. Through testing, this demon iron beetle can withstand an astonishing 149 Newtons, while other beetles generally do not exceed 68 Newtons. The force of 149 Newtons is more than 39,000 times the gravity of the demon iron beetle. We can imagine, with 39,000 of the same you, what would it be like when pressed on your body?
With such a strong physical defense, what is so special about the hard shell of the demon iron beetle? The research team conducted a more detailed exploration and study of this hard shell through spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and CT scanning. Through research, it is found that the exoskeleton of the demon iron beetle is very special, and its toughness makes us an eye-opener.
For flying insects, the elytra is an important flying tool. The elytra of the devil iron beetle has evolved to be more rigid, locked together along the suture, and more like armor. The suture of the beetle’s elytra fusion ultimately played a vital role in its toughness.
Scientists have discovered that the main component of this exoskeleton structure is chitin, a fiber material synthesized from glucose and a substance composed of matrix protein, which plays a certain role in enhancing defense capabilities.
It’s just that chitin is not the main reason why the devil iron beetle is particularly strong in physical defense. The main reason is a special structure created by the interconnection of the elytra. This structure is more like a kind of puzzle. The elytra structure formed by the special connection gives the demon iron beetle a super strong physical defense ability and can withstand more than 39,000 times the pressure of its own.
Seeing such a structure made the research team very excited. This may be a special structure that humans have not yet mastered. As long as we can study it thoroughly, we may be able to create stronger defensive materials and apply them to all aspects of science and technology.
The unique combination of material structure has opened up scientists’ horizons, so can this material combination of the devil iron beetle be applied to human science and technology? Scientists used carbon fiber materials to imitate the jigsaw structure of the devilish iron beetle sutures to create an airplane engine fastener. Through testing, this firmware is indeed stronger than the original one.
It can be seen that this combination of materials is indeed very scientific and can be applied to science and technology. This is a technology that humans “stolen” from the demon iron beetle. This also allows us to see the magic of nature again. After human beings entered the age of technology, they began to explore and study the mysteries of nature.
Whether it is the law of gravitation or the theory of relativity, they actually existed in nature for a long time, but they were only discovered and applied by humans. Nature has too many scientific mysteries waiting for us to dig. Human beings want to keep upgrading and civilization makes breakthroughs time and time again. Then walking into nature is the right direction, not just thinking hard.
Nature, the creator, has long hidden countless cosmic mysteries in the natural world. As long as we observe carefully, there may be extraordinary discoveries. The special combination of materials found in the Demon Iron Beetle is just one of many mysteries. In other animals, there are also hidden scientific mysteries that we do not know. To discover these mysteries, we need to continue to study hard.
Perhaps as long as humans can learn from nature and get close to nature, then we will learn more from nature in the future. These things can elevate the level of human civilization and make our journey to the universe further.