Sea Urchins Inspire Self Sharpening Knives

Self sharpening knives may be seen in the future thanks to scientists who have discovered how sea urchins keep their teeth sharp.

Sea urchins use their teeth to carve through tough material such as stone. Scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that their teeth remained sharp due to their layered structure of calcite crystals and cement. As each layer becomes blunt it breaks off revealing a fresh sharp layer underneath.

By using the same layering idea, knives could be made to break along weak spots removing the blunt edges.

To find out more:

Articles: Ever-sharp urchin teeth may yield tools that never need honing, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Rock-chewing sea urchins have self-sharpening teeth, National Geographic

Sea urchin could lead to knives that never need sharpening, Telegraph