As predators go, sharks have got to be up there with the most impressive. Not only do they have size, speed, and blockbuster movie credentials, but they are also born with a fascinating sixth sense.
Instead of using their vision or sense of smell to track down all of their prey, sharks are able to use electro-sensory organs to ‘listen’ for bioelectric traces in the water around them.
And now, in a new study, humans have created a way that we can do this too.
The organ, called the ampullae of Lorenzini, is located near a shark’s mouth and allows them to detect even minute electrical fields being emitted by the heart of smaller animals around them.
Previously, David Julius, PhD, professor and chair of physiology at UCSF claimed: “Skates and sharks have some of the most sensitive electroreceptors in the animal world.”
It has long been known that the organ works thanks to a jelly that conducts ions in the surrounding seawater and filters them through a specialised membrane of sensing cells.
Now a new study has developed a ‘quantum material’ that can exactly mimic this ability with a similar field of sensitivity to that reported in sharks.
The new sensor is made of a material called samarium nickelate, a quantum material which conducts protons very fast - leading the researchers to wonder if it could be useful for developing a copycat sensor.
An initial prototype was then tested in simulated ocean water environments designed to cover the wide ranges of temperature and pH found across earth’s oceans. And it worked.
Not only did it function in low temperatures, but the saltwater did not corrode it even after extended periods of testing.
The team hopes that the technology could be applied in various disciplines from marine biology - to study ocean organisms and ecosystems - to defence, helping to monitor ships for military and commercial purposes.
In future work, researchers plan to test the devices in real oceans instead and may team with biologists to apply the technology to broader studies.