Re: Sea sponge builds a better glass fiber

[David Diaz <techlist () smoton net>]

Yea I saw that yesterday.  Wasnt sure that was nanog material.  But 
the most interesting fact left out on this summery was the ability to 
"dope" the fiber with elements like sodium.  It seems the little 
creatures can do things naturally that was havent a clue how to do in 
the lab.

Also they seem to have absolute QoS and zero packet loss ;-)  </sugarRush>

d

At 9:11 -0700 8/21/03, Eric Kuhnke wrote:
> http://www.msnbc.com/news/954985.asp?0dm=C12MT
>
> Associated Press
>
> Scientists say they have identified an ocean sponge living in the 
> darkness of the deep sea that grows thin glass fibers capable of 
> transmitting light at least as well as industrial fiber optic cables 
> used for telecommunication. The natural glass fibers also are much 
> more flexible than manufactured fiber optic cable that can crack if 
> bent too far.
> "YOU CAN ACTUALLY tie a knot in these natural biological fibers and 
> they will not break -- it's really quite amazing," said Joanna 
> Aizenberg, who led the research at Bell Laboratories.