If there is a task which would be better suited for sharks with frikkin’ laser beams on their heads than this, I don’t know what it is. Using a grant from the National Science Foundation, Professor Daniel Bubb and his team have come up with a new method for coating polymers. With this new approach, the Navy should be able to reduce barnacle attachments, which will result in less drag on ships at sea, which will reduce fuel costs. It’s pretty much a win/win all around. Except, maybe for the barnacles. And keelhauling will be less effective, I suppose.
As gas prices continue to soar, the Navy will be eager to learn of research underway at Rutgers University–Camden. “Barnacles that attach to naval ships are a huge cost to the Navy. Imagine if you drove a car with a parachute attached; this extra drag force requires more gas,” says Daniel Bubb, an assistant professor of physics at Rutgers-Camden, who has developed a new method for coating polymers.
Just put those sharks beneath the water line and let them start coating all the ships we already have. And they can even use the lasers to zap the barnacles already attached to the ships.
[tags]Lasers, Frikkin’ sharks with frikkin’ lasers, New polymer coating process using lasers (sharks optional)[/tags]