Future Body Armor Designs Draw Inspiration from Primitive Fish
August 8, 2008 | Levent OZLER
Scientists seeking to protect the soldier of the future can learn a lot from a relic of the past, according to an MIT study of a primitive fish that could point to more effective ways of designing human body armor.
The creature in question is Polypterus senegalus, a fish whose family tree can be traced back 96 million years and who still inhabits muddy, freshwater pools in Africa.
Unlike the vast majority of fish today, P. senegalus sports a full-body armored "suit" that most fish would have had millions of years ago--a throwback that helps explain why it is nicknamed the "dinosaur eel."
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