A Swirling Vortex Is No Match for This Deep-Sea Sponge

A new paper finds a glass sponge has the power to eliminate destructive vortices that are created when fluid moves around a blunt object.

At the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, cylindrical clusters of the glass sponge Euplectella aspergillum jut upward like skyscrapers in the deep sea. Some house tiny shrimp, to whom an 11-inch sponge is essentially a high-rise. And the sponge’s glass skeleton is certainly a feat of architecture, comprising a geometric latticework that gives the sponge the illusion of being wrapped in lace. Yet it is enduringly sturdy, able to stay rooted in the sea floor and weather currents without snapping or splintering. Such structural superpowers leave many scientists eager to unravel whatever secrets this crystalline sponge contains. The answers could solve engineering problems, such as how to design a tall building that will not collapse in harsh winds. A study published Wednesday in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface reveals how the ridges in the sponge’s skeleton suppress a destructive phenomenon called vortex shedding, which can cause catastrophic damage to structures like chimneys and smokestacks. “These works support the idea that the fluid dynamic properties of the glass sponges might be no less remarkable than their structural characteristics,” Giacomo Falcucci, a mechanical engineer at Tor Vergata University of Rome, who was not involved with the research, wrote in an email.