Have you ever wondered how little creatures can cut, puncture or sting so easily?

New research has revealed that ants, worms, spiders and other small creatures have a built-in set of tools that would outlast the tools of any human carpenter or surgeon.

A recent study, published in Scientific Reports in September, shows for the first time how individual zinc atoms are arranged in ant teeth to maximize cutting efficiency and keep these exquisitely designed little animal tools tough and sharp.

A collaboration between a research team at the University of Oregon and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory of the US Department of Energy (DOE) revealed the secret of these tiny creatures being able to cut The hole is relatively easy, and the researchers found that the individual zinc atoms on the teeth are arranged in a tight way to maintain their efficiency and sharpness.

Researchers found that more than 8% of the weight of the lower jaw teeth of ants is made up of zinc (Pixabi).

ant age secret

Researchers discovered the secret of ants’ strong ability to cut, and found that ants have teeth outside their mouths, and these specialized structures - called “mandibular teeth” because they are connected outside their mouths - consist of a network of materials that tightly bind individual zinc atoms, and they found that more than 8 % of the weight of the lower jaw teeth of ants is zinc.

Zinc makes teeth sharper than human teeth, and the researchers suggested that ants don't have to use the same amount of force or expend the same amount of energy when using their teeth.

The research team estimated that because these biomaterials can be sharper, they allow the animals to use 60% or even less of the force they would have to use if their tools were made of materials similar to that found in human teeth.

And since less force is required, their smaller muscles use less energy.

These advantages may explain why spiders, ants, worms, crustaceans, and many other groups of organisms have these specialized tools.

atomic probe tomography

Although study leader Robert Schofield, an assistant professor at the University of Oregon, has for many years been researching various aspects of miniature materials including their flexibility, hardness, and resistance to corrosion;

His team had not been able to see the structure of microscopic animal tools in creatures such as ants before.

To do this, the team worked with researchers at the US Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to implement a tool called atomic probe tomography.

A team of biophysicists had developed techniques to measure hardness, flexibility, fracturing energy, abrasion resistance and impact resistance on a micro-scale, but they hadn't actually been able to see the structure of the materials that make up the teeth of ants and other microscopic animal tools before, especially at the atomic scale.

That's where materials scientist Aaron Devarage and his colleagues at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory come in, where Devarage is an expert in using atomic probe tomography technology.

A focused ion beam microscope was used to take a small needle sample from the tip of the ant's tooth and then image the needle sample using atomic probe tomography.

Researchers found that the teeth of the lower jaw of ants consist of a network of materials connecting zinc atoms (Getty Images)

Using this technique, Devarag recorded for the first time the nanoscale distribution of zinc atoms in an ant's tooth.

"We can see that zinc is uniformly distributed in the teeth, which was a surprise to us," he said - in a press release for the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory - "We were expecting zinc to collect in nano-nodules."

Part of Devarage and colleagues' work involves revealing the properties that make materials stronger, and he suggested that learning from nature is one way to understand what makes materials stronger and more wear-resistant. The design of nuclear power plants of the future.

“Human engineers may also learn from this biological trick,” said Schofield. “The idea that ants’ teeth are hardened, for example, increases the hardness of plastic almost as hard as aluminum when zinc is added. While there are tougher engineering materials, they are often more fragility."