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Darpa Thinks Walls of Oysters Could Protect Shores Against Hurricanes
The US defense research agency is funding three universities to engineer reef structures that will be colonized by corals and bivalves and absorb the power of future storms.
In response, Tyndall will later this month test a new way to protect shorelines from intensified waves and storm surges: a prototype artificial reef, designed by a team led by Rutgers University scientists. Cheekily called Reefense, the initiative is the Pentagon’s effort to test if “hybrid” reefs, combining man-made structures with oysters or corals, can perform as well as a good ol’ seawall. They also claim to have boosted the heat thresholds of symbiotic algae—an existentially important occupant of any healthy reef—and cross-bred local elkhorn with those from Honduras, where reefs have mysteriously withstood scorching waters.
Or read this on Wired
