How gear automated submarine could quickly and securely anchored in the sediment? Engineers have raised the issue and found the answer in kind, drawing the knife, this long shell which plunges deep and high-speed sand beaches. His secret: change the properties of the sediment that surrounds it.

All sailors know. Installing an anchor to hold the boat is a delicate art and must, moreover, consider how we emerge from the bottom to go back to the board. The problem is starkly gear for automated submarines that must arise on the merits without excessive movement.

MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), a team of Hatsopoulos microfluids Laboratory, one led by Anette (known as Peko) Hosoi has taken on the task. Amos Winter, one of the researchers involved, presented the solution to the last congress of the American Physical Society: just imitate the knife. This mollusk bivalve (such as oysters and mussels) lives in the sand and can dip into it at a surprising speed to stay firmly plugged. There are several species, all characterized by a tapered shape, resembling a knife. The MIT researchers were interested in Ensis directus called American knife in France since it shows a marked tendency to invade our shores, to the detriment of local species.
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