How Mantis Shrimp Punch So Hard

Mantis shrimp — four-inch long seafloor crustaceans — knock out prey with a punch that accelerates faster than a .22 caliber bullet. Now, researchers have figured out exactly how the tiny stomatopods wind up their forceful blows. It’s all thanks to a double-layered saddle-shaped spring made from surprisingly brittle material.“If you asked a mechanical engineer to make a spring that can store a lot of elastic energy, they wouldn’t think of using ceramic,” Ali M