image: The morphology of demosponge spicules and their inner axial filaments as revealed by scanning electron microscopy. (A) Megascleres from the demosponge T. aurantium. Scale bar, 100 mm. Inset: Cross section of the spicule obtained by focused ion beam (FIB). Scale bar, 1 mm. (B) Megasclere from the demosponge S. ponderosus. Scale bar, 100 mm. Inset: Cross sections of the main shaft of the spicule obtained by FIB. Scale bar, 1 mm. Note: Some spicule tips were broken during sample preparation and appear to be flat. (C to E) Microscleres from the demosponge G. cydonium at different maturation levels, from a fully mature spicule to an immature one, respectively. This material relates to a paper that appeared in the 18 Oct. 2017, issue of Science Advances, published by AAAS. The paper, by V. Schoeppler at Technische Universität Dresden in Dresden, Germany, and colleagues was titled, "Shaping highly regular glass architectures: A lesson from nature." view more
Credit: [Credit: Schoeppler <i>et al.</i>, Sci. Adv. 2017;3: eaao2047]