Idea for futuristic body armour came while MIT scientist Ming Guo ate lobster
- Lobsters could offer a solution to the problem plaguing most modern body armours: the more mobility an armour offers, the less it protects the wearer’s body
Imagine a highly sophisticated body armour that is a tough as it is flexible, a shield that consists largely of water, but remains strong enough to prevent mechanical penetration.
Now imagine that this armour is not only strong, but also soft and stretchy, so much so that the wearer is able to move their body parts with ease, whether they’re swimming in water, walking across the ground or rushing to escape danger.
That description might sound like a suit worn by a fictional hero in the DC Comics franchise, but it actually describes portions of a lobster’s exoskeleton.
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard believe the soft membrane covering the animal’s joints and abdomen – a material that is as tough as the industrial rubber used to make car tyres and garden hoses – could guide the development of a new type of flexible body armour for humans, one designed to cover joints like knees and elbows.
The researchers’ findings appeared in a recent edition of the journal Acta Materialia.