Who would have thought that anything associated with seashells could aid United States soldiers while in the field of battle.
According to a study, scientists one day envision making durable, strong, and light products for use on things like body armor
The hard material found on seashells can handle 80 percent of light at a time Live Science reported.
"We have long studied natural exoskeletons as inspiration for the development of advanced engineered protective systems," Chrisitine Ortiz a materials scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology told Live Science.
Ortiz and her colleagues researched the different aspects of the seashell so they could create the masterpiece they were looking for.
The shell is also capable of serving as a substitute for regular glass in window panes especially in the Philipines, India, and additional countries in Asia.
Ortiz and her team looked at other types of seashells, but the Placuna was something special.
"About five years ago we started searching for natural armor systems, which were also optically clear," Ortiz told Live Science. Transparent armor could serve in soldier eye or face protection, windows and windshields, blast shields and combat vehicles," Ortiz told Live Science.
The shell is made of a material called calcite or delicate rocks like limestone and chalk. One extraordinary characteristic with the Placuna however included its ability to disperse energy off of force 10 times more compared to regular calcite.
"This is the first thorough study of a natural armor that resists mechanical penetration but is also optically clear. We wanted to find out how the material resists penetration but also preserves this unique optical property," Ortiz told Live Science.
"The findings in this work may provide design principles for synthetic engineering of lightweight structural materials with efficient energy dissipation. We are continuing to study other armored species that exhibit semitransparent properties and intend to create a library of biological design principles," Ortiz told Live Science.
