Buzz
Octopuses possess incredible abilities with their skin, such as the power to ‘see’ light, resist the force of their own suction cups, and blend perfectly into their environment. This remarkable skill has caught the attention of the U.S. Army, as reported by Co.Design. The military's research office is funding the development of a new type of morphing material inspired by the octopus’s adaptive skin.
An octopus’s skin features tiny, muscular bumps known as papillae, which enable them to quickly change textures. This allows them to mimic their surroundings, including coral, rocks, and even other creatures. The new government-funded research, led by scientists at Cornell University, has created a device that operates on a similar principle.
“As stretchable materials become increasingly vital, we still lack the ability to control their stretching in ways more advanced than simply inflating balloons,” the scientists explain in their study, published recently in the journal Science. “Nature, however, demonstrates extraordinary control over stretchable surfaces.”
The stretchy silicone membrane remains flat most of the time, but when inflated with air, it can transform into nearly any 3D shape. So far, this technology has been used to replicate rocks and plants.
You can witness the synthetic skin change from a flat pad to 3D models of objects in the video below:
This feature could easily be applied to military gear. A suit made from such a material could instantly provide tailored camouflage for any environment. Like many military technologies, it might also find civilian applications in the future. Co.Design’s Jesus Diaz suggests possibilities such as buttons that only appear on a car’s dashboard when needed, or a mixing bowl that rises up from the kitchen counter during cooking.
While we may be able to replicate the camouflage abilities of cephalopods, other incredible abilities—like controlling thousands of powerful suction cups or squeezing through openings the size of a cherry tomato—remain the exclusive domain of the octopus. For now.
