MIT scientists using lobsters to develop new body armor

Imagine a highly sophisticated body armor that is a tough as it is flexible, a shield that consists largely of water but remains strong enough to prevent mechanical penetration.

Now imagine that this armor is not only strong, but also soft and stretchy, so much so that the wearer is able to move body parts with ease, whether swimming in water, walking across the ground or rushing to escape danger.

That description might sound like a suit worn by a fictional hero in the DC Comics franchise, but it actually describes portions of a lobster’s exoskeleton.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard believe the soft membrane covering the animal’s joints and abdomen — a material that is as tough as the industrial rubber used to make car tires and garden hoses — could guide the development of a new type of flexible body armor for humans, one designed to cover joints like knees and elbows.

The researchers’ findings appeared in a recent edition of the journal Acta Materialia.

“We think this work could motivate flexible armor design,” Ming Guo, the d’Arbeloff Career Development Assistant Professor in the mechanical engineering department at MIT, told MIT News, noting that lobsters’ membrane has helped it survive on Earth for more than 100 million years.

Ballistic vests — commonly referred to as “body armor” — are widely used by law enforcement officers and have been credited with saving thousands of officers from handgun and rifle ammunition, according to the National Institute of Justice.