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Material scientists admire spider silk for being lightweight and strong. Now another arthropod product is getting into the act — insect cuticle, the tough, flexible material in the insect exoskeleton.
Researchers at Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering analyzed insect cuticle, which includes chitin and other proteins, such as the fibroin also found in spider silk. They then devised a method to produce a material made up of layers of chitin and fibroin. The result is on par with an aluminum alloy for strength, but at half the metal’s weight.
They call the stuff "shrilk" — a combination of shrimp, as discarded shrimp shells are a good source of chitin, and silk. Its flexibility can be manipulated by adjusting the water content – just as insects do. The research is in the journal Advanced Materials.
Shrilk's creators say it could be a green alternative to plastic, for trash bags and even diapers. ______（填一句話。）________
Shrilk is a clear film. If it can be made to stay clear when thick, it could make Enterprise Engineer Montgomery Scott's transparent aluminum obsolete. In advance.
Its strength and biocompatibility could make it good for surgical suture or as scaffolding for tissue regeneration.
good for 對…有益,能擔當 biocompatibility -生物相容性 材料學家十分羨慕強勁而又輕盈的蜘蛛網(wǎng)?，F(xiàn)在另一種節(jié)肢動物（節(jié)肢動物由昆蟲綱、甲殼綱、蛛形綱、蜈蚣綱等外骨骼動物組成。）的角質(zhì)層也加入了這一行列，它是一種結(jié)實而又柔韌的昆蟲外骨。 哈佛魏斯生物工程研究所的研究人員分析了昆蟲的角質(zhì)層，它富含甲殼素和其他的蛋白質(zhì)，比如說就有在蜘蛛絲中也含有的蠶絲蛋白。然后，他們設計了一種方法來制造有多層甲殼層和蠶絲蛋白的材料。這種新型材料與鋁合金的強度一樣，但只有鋁合金的一半重。（今天終于知道鋁合金的英語是這個，lol） 研究人員把這種新材料命名為“shrilk”（請允許我稱其為“史萊克”），這個詞是蝦shrimp（因為被廢棄蝦殼中富含甲殼素）和絲silk這兩個單詞的組合。這種材料能像昆蟲那樣，通過調(diào)節(jié)其含水量來改變其柔韌性。這項研究發(fā)表于期刊“高級材料”。 “史萊克”的創(chuàng)造者說這種材料能環(huán)保地替代用于垃圾袋、甚至是尿布中的塑料。（尿布里含塑料？？）。它的強度與生物相容性能讓其很好地成為醫(yī)用縫合線或是組織再生的“腳手架”。 “史萊克”是一種透明的薄膜。如果做厚時，它還能保持透明的話，企業(yè)號航空母艦的總工程師蒙哥馬利斯科特的透明鋁就out啦。而且還提前了呢?。ㄟ@是Star Trek里的人物Montgomery_Scott，經(jīng)常被要求執(zhí)行某些工程奇跡。在劇中，他出生于2222年的蘇格蘭。夠2的。lol）