30
Navy Ships Repel Bacteria, Thanks to Shark Skin
By Jeremy A. Kaplan
Fox News
Ever wonder how sharks stay so squeaky clean, while whales and other sea creatures attract barnacles and other critters? That smooth skin inspired Sharklet Technologies, which based a new bacteria-busting film on it. And the Navy’s going to put it on their boats.
Researchers have been designing products inspired by or flat-out aping mother nature for years, a process called biomimicry. Sharklet Technologies is the latest to employ biomimicry, having studied the pattern of shark skin and printed it on a thin film in order to repel smaller bugs—bacteria.
Popular Science notes that the film, which is covered with microscopic diamond-shaped bumps, is the first “surface topography” proven to keep the bugs at bay. In tests in a California hospital, for three weeks the plastic sheeting’s surface prevented dangerous microorganisms, such as E. coli and Staphylococcus A, from establishing colonies large enough to infect humans.
The Office of U.S. Naval Research is just one partner using the technology, having announced new hull coatings for Navy ships based on the substance, which should cut fuel use and protect the environment.
October 30th, 2009 at 6:54 pm
Interesting article – pity about the typos, which appear to be the norm from Fox News these days
“biomimcry” and “think” positively bit me on the nose! – ever think about spell check? I’ve imbibed and I can still see these glaring errors.
Come on, Guys, get it together; Fox News is supposed to be superior to (all) the other Communist channels!
October 30th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
I agree. Very interesting. It would be even more if they explained how the topography of the ‘think’, ‘thin’(?) or ‘thick’(?) film, actually keeps the bacteria from growing.
Never fear Sue, all of the media suffers from cantspellitis. It has become a pandemic! Not only can they not spell correctly, they can’t get their facts straight either. Just yesterday my local paper showed the plight of the US dollar, using the exchange rate with the Yen. They showed 1 Yen = $100US. It was supposed to be 100 Yen = $1US. Did they clarify this later? No. They didn’t even acknowledge the mistake. I think they believe no one catches this stuff and so why should they care. They should care because people see this and conclude the media doesn’t know what it’s doing. The creme de le creme are these newspaper ads with stats about how great newspapers are. These folks are idiots! The people they should be talking to aren’t reading the newspaper. The ones that see the ad are already reading it. Newspapers are buggy whips, it’s just a matter of time.
October 30th, 2009 at 8:52 pm
Seriously, this is a quite fascinating article and you spend time complaining about spell check. What an idiot. The shark skin is amazing. Keep up the good work with the BiOOMimIKry
October 30th, 2009 at 8:57 pm
This is almost as good as a sign in a new bus that claimed to reduce fuel use by 300%.
My thought?
Cool, they’ve figured out the world’s energy problems. Not only do the new vehicles look and act just like the old ones, but they never need refilling because they MAKE more fuel than they use.
If only it were true.
October 30th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
Can’t see the forest for the tree?
After all, how are we going to be able to use this new technology? They say that it prevents bacteria from growing on it so they want to use it on ships’ hulls; but what about us, what about protecting humans? And if so, will the shark protectant come in skin-like form that we put on like a body suit, or a gunk to be smeared on to the skin, all over the body? Hmmm.
But seriously, SPELLING is the most interesting thought you guys had? hahaha
Take care, R
October 30th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
your all a bunch of fuckin idiots. this is an article to inform, not teach. PS I meant to leave off the G, and I DO NOT like caps
October 30th, 2009 at 10:09 pm
These errors are what happens when one graduates with a communication degree.
Most journalists are lacking in science and math backgrounds.
Popular Science is full of articles that are published without any peer review whatsoever, promoting technology that makes a good headline, nothing else.
October 31st, 2009 at 12:20 am
Gee, I must be getting old. My biggest “complaint” was that I couldn’t read the black-on-dark-green lettering without highlighting the whole article – especially the upper section (which turned it blue). Yes, I noticed the typos, but never gave ‘em a second thought. The article is very interesting, and I am sure we’ll be hearing more about it… there’s money in them hills!
October 31st, 2009 at 12:38 am
This is one of the largest drydock expenses for US Submarines. Hull cleaning and painting are good for 5-8 knots speed improvement depending on the class of boat. Sometimes they will send divers in the water to operate large scrubbers to clean the biologics off the hull.
This is an awesome developement.
October 31st, 2009 at 12:42 am
I agree with others regarding spelling or spell check etc. Let’s think about the topic for crying out loud. This is truly amazing and the possibilities that may be out there. Maybe it will be used to somehow help protect humans. Maybe it can be used for painting cars and prevent dirt from sticking to it, who knows? Personally, I believe the negative comments were just a reason to target Fox News, shark skin be damned! (Please review for grammar)!! Thank you.
October 31st, 2009 at 2:42 am
I couldn’t read the black on green either, and I too highlighted it (how many readers does Fox lose because people don’t know these little tricks to get around poor webmastering?). And, while I can understand the occasional typo or unintentionally funny headline due to time pressure, I have to say Fox seems to need more proofreading than it currently enjoys.
As for the sharkskin story, I do medical writing, and I wish the writer had explained just a bit more. I have read elsewhere that such mundane things as not being easy to stick to can help reduce germ infestations, but a story like this should give the reader more of a clue as to WHY this works.
October 31st, 2009 at 2:53 am
@RPaine: Notice one of the tests was done in a hospital environment, and therefore answers your question. It was just the original purpose of finding this material was to reduce the drag on ships, which like many other things when invented, has multiple applications. Needless to say, if affordable, it will likely be applied to hospitals and other buildings with mass amounts of human traffic.
Get over the spelling issues, its nowhere as bad as other news channels. Alert them to the spelling issues, job done. Also, it has nothing to do with the topic, so when you reply, talk about the topic (otherwise the ‘idiocy’ reflects hypocrisy in your inability to stay on topic)
October 31st, 2009 at 8:03 am
Shark skin can be used as sandpaper.
October 31st, 2009 at 8:47 am
FYI the concept of a broken surface to inhibit the growth of bacteria has been used for many years. It goes by the name of RTF and is available from most “big box” stores, viz., Menards; Lowes; Home Depot. It is used exensively in bathrooms and is required by some states to be used in restaurant kitchens and coolers. The shark-skin appears to be a variation on an old theme.
Majoring on the minors (spelling) speaks of a small, liberal mind. Get a life!
October 31st, 2009 at 9:23 am
Insofar as the type over the dark green background; personally I did not find it difficult to read. Granted it’s not perfect, but it is readable; at least by this viewer. Additionally, I find it visually interesting when optional backgrounds are used rather than the usual white.
October 31st, 2009 at 9:44 am
Interesting article. It is Staphylococcus aureus not Staph A, to be confused with Strept A. I agree spelling and facts are important. I shows a general decline of society today. For example, Steve Scott.
October 31st, 2009 at 10:15 am
If you think the spelling is not a problem, you are part of the problem. An author, reporter, journalist who can’t spell and hasn’t been taught to proof their own work. Any 6th grader should be able to handle this task.
October 31st, 2009 at 11:22 am
Children, spellcheck would not have picked up one of the errors, since “think” is a real word. Proof reading is the problem.
The most significant problem that I see is the reading level. This tests out at 12.0, way too complex for a mass medium nowadays.
I note with interest the grammatical error in “your all a bunch of fuckin idiots . . . .”
October 31st, 2009 at 11:27 am
The article was interesting. The items mentioned by others were distracting: a) the lack of contrast between text and background color and b) “think” made me pause to decide – however quickly – if they meant “thin”, “thick” or were referring to some class of film that was new to me. While reading for information or reading to enjoy, having to analyze what the author meant is a minor annoyance.
Fox, keep up the good work and don’t hesitate to improve your quality.
October 31st, 2009 at 12:17 pm
i really must use this forum for my complaint. every time i read one of your reports that uses a photo of a person or thing , the sub titel is so far under the picture ( photo ) i can`t read the following line (s) could you would you please explain me why ?
October 31st, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Guys, the problem is usually not spelling so much as the brain typing the wrong word. Its a case of the fingers ahead of the brain or the brain ahead of the fingers. Frequently the word is spelled properly though it is the wrong word as in the case of “think” instead of “thin”. Even grammar checking software won’t catch such. Oddly, as the improper word is usually similar to the intended word, if the original author reads it the chances are his/her brain may even interpret it as they intended. Of course I write this because it happens to me all the time…
All that aside at least the source was quoted so I could research it further.
October 31st, 2009 at 1:53 pm
Its astounding to see how many experts on spelling
here. It’s a pity you don’t understand a thing the article pertains to.
October 31st, 2009 at 3:10 pm
Spelling and formatting issues aside, this technology has some very intriguing possibilities. We use bacteriacides to protect non-contact cooling water piping in marine applications. If this technology can be applied to this area, the bacteria will not stick to piping, meaning the algae that feed on the bacteria will not stick, meaning that the mussels, snails, barnacles, etc. that feed on the algae will not stick. If the technology can be applied we can get away from the use of filming amines and bacteriacides (both of which are intentionally toxic) and still protect cooling water piping. Its use in other applications is equally attractive from both commercial and environmental standpoints.
October 31st, 2009 at 3:14 pm
I prefer Fox News to CNN because of the variety of subjects they cover but the bad spelling really distracts from the subject matter. I have spell checker run on every e-mail I send although must are only read by one person. How irresponsible is it to post articles online and read by millions which wouldn’t pass a 3rd grade English exam. I also hate that I can’t read most of the captions because the article runs over the top of them. Why not hire a few English majors and graphics designers to back up journalists and become a class act? There must be a two minute time limit to write these articles and post them.
October 31st, 2009 at 3:27 pm
1) Spelling is important.
2) Nit-picking is stupid.
3) Knowing the difference between an important mistake and a nit-pick – priceless.
On the actual point of the article, I wish they’d gone into more detail but it is indeed very interesting.
Oh, the black-on-green thing is because this is the ecology/conservation/’green’/whatever-we’re-calling-it-this-week section of Fox’s website – which is probably not a good justification for those who have difficulty distinguishing the type.
Okay, so somebody can now complain about the lack of dash/hyphen distinction in my post!
October 31st, 2009 at 3:34 pm
re: ’steve scott Says’ “your all a bunch of fuckin idiots—yes, I intentionally left off the ‘g’”________________Steve must have wrote this article. Not only does he call people idiots for not spelling correctly, he doesn’t know the difference between the use of the words ‘ your ‘ and ‘ you’re ‘. This is what is REALLY wrong with this world; people accusing others of being stupid whilst simultaneously proving they are STUPID. What a TARD…. yes, I intentionally left off the ‘RE’ Steve.
October 31st, 2009 at 6:40 pm
“it is better to be thought of as an idiot, then to open ones’ mouth and remove all doubt” Words to ponder before you respond on a blog…
October 31st, 2009 at 8:18 pm
It’s normal for Fox, unfortunately and, indeed, all of the major news outlets to not understand the science they write about. In writing an error in a science piece, the average party, er, journalism BA has such inadequate math and science skills as to be unaware that what they have just written is 1. impossible 2. makes no sense or 3. is the opposite of what the scientist they just interviewed just said. It frustrates those of us who are interested in the sciences and those us who make a living in them.
October 31st, 2009 at 9:58 pm
Sue…back in the kitchen, get to making the sammiches…k thanks.
October 31st, 2009 at 11:19 pm
I cannot help but think about the test that jumbles the letters to see if you can still read it. Good readers still understand the words and sentences.
Money could be saved on cleaning ship’s hulls. Lives could be saved on navy ships. Just do not sell it to the chinese.
November 1st, 2009 at 5:13 am
Thanks, David, for clearly illustrating the point about spelling. The word is THAN, not THEN, for crying out loud. Learn to spell or quit writing comments on websites (your advice).
November 1st, 2009 at 9:55 am
Using a shark skin design to keep slime off ships is a great idea! Let’s design a Sharky condom so the green weenies stop spreading their disease too!
November 1st, 2009 at 10:13 am
One problem to consider while being so self righteous about spelling is that it’s not that they can’t spell, but, rather they don’t slow down enough to correct the automatic changes made by their spelling/grammar checking function in the word processing software they use.
November 1st, 2009 at 10:18 am
Great article – The various comments helped to expand on the information given. Thanks – I can understand the difficulty for some to read the color contrasts. Perhaps there are various levels of color blindness causing the problem. Not a bad thing – just fact that how we see color varies from person to person. I agree that the spelling could be improved but that’s nit picking. I enjoy spotting errors in any book or newspaper article I read (or what I write) but I don’t get anal about it. Maby we all need to find some way to feel important. I find that FOX news is where I can get facts on various issues. Facts seem to confuse some political groups. I feel that a person’s honor and honesty are more important that their smooth talking, perfect hair, use or abuse of power, ability to spell correctly or ability to manipulate people. God Bless America
November 1st, 2009 at 11:11 am
Despite the misspellings, it is a very interesting article.
November 1st, 2009 at 2:03 pm
Silly rabbits…..
November 1st, 2009 at 3:07 pm
Maybe if every one would stop and “THINK” and maybe realize that the word “THINK” was not in ERROR or perhaps just maybe, its new technology and the word “THINK” was used properly. I love how everyone is so smart and too think that people out there in the world would really dwell over a miss spelled word. Must be a LIBERAL with an abyss for a brain. Always complaining with no results. The back ground is great and is easy reading. And for the ones who can’t read it, ADJUST your MONITOR..if you know what that is.
November 1st, 2009 at 3:08 pm
Sue is stupid. I can tell you are a liberal because you go out of your way to rip them over typos, while ignoring the actual story. Sorry the typos ruined it for you anal Sue. Have a nice life, lighten up.
November 1st, 2009 at 3:11 pm
Steve knows whats up.
November 1st, 2009 at 3:13 pm
And for the ones who can’t get enough of each other…like trying to DISH each other on your comments back and forth. Get a life! RE-Tards.
November 1st, 2009 at 3:23 pm
Four evree 1 out their hooo kan’t get enuf uf eeech other like dishing eeech other on the komments dack and fourth.. especialy ofer a mispeled wrod…get a life! especially the liberals…u rE-TaRd..ooops i should kave used STUPID check.
November 1st, 2009 at 4:55 pm
Hi,
They have been selling this stuff for years at you local drug store … Look for BLUE STAR .. about 8.50 a jar.
November 2nd, 2009 at 12:12 am
SUE, biomimicry is spelled correctly
November 2nd, 2009 at 10:27 am
Say Steve Scott, did you mean to use the wrong “your” as well as leave off the “g” and the capitals?
It’s “you are” or “you’re” all a bunch of blah, blah, blah…
(You’re a Dork Fish)
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:47 pm
“Maybe if every one would stop and “THINK” and maybe realize that the word “THINK” was not in ERROR or perhaps just maybe, its new technology and the word “THINK” was used properly.”
Really? Seriously? I’m 1000% sure that you, and the article, are incorrect.
And, “miss spelled” words can completely change the meaning of an article. If you don’t understand this, leave the discussion to those less stupid than you, and go watch cartoons or something.
November 2nd, 2009 at 10:10 pm
Progress appears in many forms – those which were anathema not so long ago are now standard necessities — think of all the remotely operated devices showing up almost weekly. – just today surgeons in the UK turned around the heart of a person — even Greater thiongs are in them not too distant future – you are fortunate to be living now – enjoy it and be thankful !!
November 3rd, 2009 at 4:16 pm
http://www.thinkfilm-inc.com
November 3rd, 2009 at 4:59 pm
….and I’d like apologize for spelling “thin-film” as “think film.” We do work a bit too quickly at times.
November 4th, 2009 at 12:35 am
Sue,
you misspelled your last name. It should be Me?
November 4th, 2009 at 4:05 am
Cut the otter some slack, he probably wrote the thing on a blackberry.
November 4th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
Loved the story. Hate the spelling errors. My daughter is 24 now. When she was growing up, I would frequently look at her tests and papers and frequently send them back to the teachers with their spelling errors corrected. In many cases, the facts in their corrections were incorrect. My mother was a 5th grade teacher. Her spelling and her facts were always right. I was raised to have a high regard for spelling and language. It drives me nuts that our teachers are so poorly educated! How in the world can we expect our kids to speak (and spell) properly when they are being taught by teachers who have not been well educated?
November 4th, 2009 at 4:19 pm
They have been selling shark skin ointment for years in your local drug store under Blue Star
Ointment so why should it not work.
also wy do you keep deleting my reply?
November 5th, 2009 at 10:58 am
Nobody seemed to notice that he can’t seem to make up his mind whether or not to capitalize “Navy”.
November 5th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
yah, i can’t spell elitists – Wahhhhh!
November 7th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
Joe
Put down the bottle and step away from the keyboard….youre coming off just as stupid (and even more ignorant) then Sue. If youre a ‘Comm. Major’ Id ask for a tuition refund and check your local McDonalds for a ‘help wanted’ sign (although Im not entirely sure Id want you preparing my food). as a conservative I hate it when other people who call themselves conservatives make us look bad and you, sir, do exactly that. Your rambling post punctuated with sports references and words like ‘faggot’ tell me its time for you to ‘up your dose’. The fact that youre a Yankees fan doesnt surprise me as you seem par for the course in that regard. So, please step out of the gene pool or, at the very least, relegate yourself to the shallow end.
November 7th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
Wow, many retarded comments here. Everywhere online is plagued by bad spelling, it’s something I’ve gotten used to since it’s everywhere on the internet.
As for shark skin on boat and sub hulls, every little bit helps I guess. I’ll bet the inventor is comfortably rich though, with money for patents, labs, employees, etc and so this invention is a sub-par excuse of a rich asshole trying to pinch every penny.
He wants better fuel mileage and since all rich people are retarded he’ll spend millions to save pennies. That’s the reality of this garbage.
November 9th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
Okay, I’m all for the free exchange of ideas. But I’m going to moderate comments like those, Joe. Please keep the discussion polite, and eliminate the cursing and slurs.
As for my spelling, I’m no shark but I have thick enough skin. Everyone makes mistakes — me more often than not, it would seem. I’ve corrected “Navy.”
November 9th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
What a bunch of nit-picking complainers you all are. Point is, something new is in the horizon. Instead of using your brain power try to figure out a new way to put it to good use, you all waste your time bickering about dotting your i’s and crossing your t’s. Green is a wonderful color and so is black…Take it to the bank and cash it…The fact that we can even write and communicate is a wonder in itself… Rejoice and be grateful for what God as given us…Brainpower
November 9th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
What, no replies? I purposely made a couple of errors to see who dares to correct and grade my “paper.”
November 9th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
cool when will it be ready for the real live testing.
like fishing boats they go thou so much gas today
its more than have there cost of running the boat
and how long dose it last on the boat and the cost of have it too must be out of this world to keep up
November 10th, 2009 at 7:30 am
Intriguing, yes, the article too. I taught high school English. The kids coming up from grade school were almost entirely ignorant when it came to grammar, sentence structure, and of course, spelling. By that time however, it was well-nigh impossible to teach them proper usage and spelling. They’d been inculcated with neo-socialist nonsense including global warming, “tolerance,” “diversity,” and a host of other useless liberal causes, but not a whit of a way to express themselves in proper English. And you wonder why the above is so fraught with errors? As products of our vaunted unionized education system, journalists don’t know any better, and neither do their editors. Ummmm, ummmm, ummmm!
November 11th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
i just want to thank the gud people at focks for the artickle.
November 12th, 2009 at 10:41 am
“31. Les Says: November 1st, 2009 at 5:13 am
Thanks, David, for clearly illustrating the point about spelling. The word is THAN, not THEN, for crying out loud. Learn to spell or quit writing comments on websites (your advice).”
Les, thanks for illustrating your ignorance by clearly not understanding the difference between SPELLING and GRAMMAR! THEN was spelled correctly, but grammatically incorrect. THAN would have been the correct word to use grammatically.
Learn the rules of grammar as well as spelling or quit writing comments on websites (your advice).
November 13th, 2009 at 8:12 am
If you English teachers would teach your students English, then you wouldn’t have the time to complain about the spelling. Oh, your not a teacher. Keep it to yourself. Nice article
November 13th, 2009 at 11:13 am
I think it’s funny how many people say some of the most herendous things when leaving posts. I know 99% of them wouldn’t say these things face to face with somebody.
November 13th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
Very interesting info.
One more word – Idiots!
November 13th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
My what a collection of erudite and pleasant comments, all on topic and full of useful addendum’s to the base article.
What a intelligent group, focusing in on the important points and discussing them in an interesting and enlightening fashion.
What a grand use of my precious time, reviewing the thoughts and aspirations of so many, many of you very clever and witty folks. You can be sure I’ll visit this site as often as I can.
And thanks in advance for what I’m sure will continue to be just a wonderfully fascinating discourse.