{"id":18189,"date":"2016-05-04T12:48:34","date_gmt":"2016-05-04T12:48:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/research\/space-exploration-device-modelled-on-sea-urchins\/"},"modified":"2025-09-22T11:53:26","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T06:23:26","slug":"space-exploration-device-modelled-on-sea-urchins","status":"publish","type":"research","link":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/space-exploration-device-modelled-on-sea-urchins","title":{"rendered":"Space exploration device modelled on sea urchins"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">A team of engineers and marine biologists at the University of California, San Diego, led by Michael Frank, a Ph.D. candidate at the Jacobs School of Engineering, have designed a space exploration device modeled on sea urchin\u2019s mouth and teeth. Sea urchins have strong, dome-shaped teeth, and intricate muscles that help them cut through tough rocks and weeds. This inspired the team of researchers to develop sediment sampler for space vehicles that can gather ground samples without disturbing the surrounding area. To design their device, they studied the sea urchins\u2019 mouth structure by scanning them using microCT, a 3D microscopy technique. Apart from this, they used finite element analysis, which allowed them to determine the importance of the keel \u2013 a T-shaped structure running down the middle of each of the urchin&#8217;s teeth \u2013 to the teeth&#8217;s performance. After developing the device, they succeeded in using it to gather soil samples from soil that\u00a0simulated Martian soil in density and humidity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">Read more in <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedaily.com\/releases\/2016\/05\/160502161120.htm\">Science Daily<\/a><\/em>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":33313,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false},"new_tags":[],"series":[],"subject":[2872],"class_list":["post-18189","research","type-research","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","subject-earth-and-planetary-science"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Space exploration device modelled on sea urchins | Editage Insights<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A team of engineers and marine biologists at the 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