A humble sea-sponge is showing scientists how to make better fibre-optic cables, used in modern telecommunications.

According to new research published in the journal Nature, one type of sea sponge makes fibres which have significant advantages over those produced in human factories.

Fibre-optic cables are the backbone of modern telecommunications, carrying telephone and computer signals in the form of light from one side of the world to the other.

Even the best of human ingenuity cannot make these materials as well as the deep-sea sponge Euplectella, commonly known as the Venus Flower-Basket however.

Strong sponge

Joanna Aizenberg leads the team of scientists who have been studying them at Bell Laboratories near New York, and she says their main advantage is strength.

"We can even tie a knot from these biological fibres and they don't break. While we know that in commercial fibres, the major failure mode is fracture that results from crack growth."

Full Article LINK