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1. Ars Technica (arstechnica@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 10-Oct-2024 04:03:54 JST Ars Technica

   Octopus suckers inspire new tech for gripping objects underwater

   New adhesive system could be powerful tool for underwater salvage, rescue operations.

   https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/10/octopus-suckers-inspire-new-tech-for-gripping-objects-underwater/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

   • EVHaste (haste@mastodon.social)'s status on Friday, 11-Oct-2024 11:34:44 JST EVHaste

     in reply to

     @arstechnica Cool tech.

     It reminds me of the recent Smithsonian story about corporate interests in undersea manganese harvesting, and the cynical side of me assumes this is why government bodies such as the NSF would be interested in funding it.

     According to the original paper, they provided some financial support in the form of a DMREF grant, for research that “accelerates the materials discovery-to-use timeline”.

     https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/weird-metal-balls-discovered-ocean-floor-may-be-tech-companies-dream-180954339/

     https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/advs.202407588

     https://new.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/dmref-designing-materials-revolutionize-engineer-our-future/nsf23-530/solicitation