Mantis Shrimp and Body Armour

The mantis shrimp is a fascinating creature that has the ability to punch its prey into submission with a club that accelerates underwater at around 10,400 g (102,000 m/s2). By studying the secrets behind this formidable weapon, a Californian researcher hopes to develop an innovative, hi-tech material that is one third the weight and thickness of existing body armour.

Some animals are very poorly named: the flying lemur can't fly and is not a lemur, the rabid wolf spider is as placid and innocuous as spiders come, and the jackass penguin gets along just fine with its peers.

The mantis shrimp fits in this category - it is neither a mantis nor a shrimp. It lives a solitary life, displays very aggressive behaviour, and, most importantly, packs a mean punch. So mean, in fact, that its "fist" can go from 0 to 50 mph (0 to 80 km/h) in just three thousands of a second, underwater. As it accelerates the club creates a pressure wave so strong that it instantly boils the water in front of it and even generates tiny flashes of light before striking its target with the force of a speeding bullet.

The animal needs to be kept in special aquariums so it won't break the glass. The video below gives a sense for just how powerful its strike can be.