Heart-shaped Mollusc has Windows that Work like Fibre Optics | New Scientist
opened her lab at the and the Marine Biological Laboratory in September 2024.
A heart-shaped mollusc has evolved tiny windows that work like fibre-optic cables, the first known example in nature.
Heart cockles (Corculum cardissa) are bivalve molluscs a bit like clams that have a symbiotic relationship with photosynthetic algae that live inside them. The algae have a safe home, get light to photosynthesise and provide nutrients for their hosts.
Unlike other bivalves, heart cockles don91海角乱伦檛 open their shells up wide, yet they somehow funnel light to their interior even while staying shut.
Now, at the University of Chicago and her colleagues have found that there are transparent calcium carbonate crystal structures in the heart cockle shells that function like fibre-optic bundles, letting light inside to bathe the algae. 91海角乱伦淚f you don91海角乱伦檛 have to open and can just have a transparent window, that91海角乱伦檚 a very safe way to irradiate your algae,91海角乱伦 says McCoy.
Source: Heart-shaped Mollusc has Windows that Work like Fibre Optics | New Scientist