Briana Hayes
Staff Writer
The human body has many amazing capabilities. We have the ability to run for hours, lift multiples of our weight, and create cures for diseases while utilizing our mind and body together.
An important part of our body is our bones. Although a broken bone is not that rare of an occurence, bones have the ability to withstand great tensile forces and compression that our bodies experience.
The bones of the body contribute a lot to the functions of movement. The 206 bones in adult bodies allow our bodies to move in several directions while providing protection to many vital organs.
Some of the hardest forces and materials on Earth have no affect on our bones. Even more impressive is that bones are hollow and still have the ability to withstand pressure. The femur, which is the strongest bone in the body, is stronger than concrete.
This is the reason why researchers from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany were inspired by human bones to assemble and design a strong, but light weight matter that is unlike any other material currently used.
In the past, researchers have looked to hard materials such as steel and diamond to create protective material, but this new approach hold the benefit of weighing less.
Bones have the ability to protect us from great forces, but are still light enough for us to move without being weighed down. The human bone design is similar to that of honeycomb structures piled on top of each other.
The team assembled the material by utilizing ceramic-polymer mixes and 3-D laser printing. Each individual structure is about 10 cubic centimeters. They are hollow and light yet sturdy.
The researchers, led by Jens Bauer, employed the honeycomb design of bones to form synthetic material without the weight that many protective materials have. The uses of this new material can range from armor for military personal and police officers to insulation in buildings.
The human body has functions and abilities that are sometimes difficult to understand, but as scientists continue to better understand the body, we are able to use the findings to mimic the functions in everyday life.
