Polar bear and the secret to survive at sub -zero temperatures, which is

As the polar bear does to survive at perennially sub -zero temperaturesin one of the most inhospitable climatically inhospitable environments? Nhis hair hides an antifreeze: a mix of fatty substances that give its white fur unique properties, and that in the future could inspire the development of new sustainable anti -croce and chemical free coatings.

The discovery

The discovery, signed by an international team, earned the cover of the magazine ‘Science Advances’. For the authors “he throws a new fascinating light on our understanding of the ecology of the polar bear”, but not only: he also explains several habits of daily life of the Inuit, the Arctic people who have always had a strong bond with Candido Urside.

After an in -depth examination of the hair collected by 6 polar bears in nature, the researchers focused on the sebum, the fat that impregnates their fur. This is precisely the element that protects them from bad weather: If for man having the “greased hair” is an imperfection to fight, for the polar bear it is a life life -saving. The scientists then performed a detailed chemical analysis of the sebum of the white mammals, identifying the key ingredients: a cocktail of cholesterol, diacilgliceroli and fatty acids, which works from repellent. The ice cannot stick to the fur and slips away. Among the substances identified, a great absentee stands out, that is, the squalene. Present in human hair and the hair of other aquatic animals such as the sea lights, this metabolite is missing in the polar bear fur, which suggests that “the absence of squalene is very important for anti -jacket properties”.

In examining the fur of polar bears, the researchers took into consideration several parameters, as explained by Julian Carolan, PhD student at the School of Chemistry of the Trinity College in Dublin and at the Amber Research Ireland Center, first author of the article: “We measured the Ice adhesion force, hydrophobicity and water freezing time. Quickly emerged as a crucial component that confers “to the fur of polar bears its” anti -jacket effect. Ice; on the contrary, when they were cleaned and the fat was largely removed, the bear hair behaved similarly to human hair, to which the ice attacks easily, whether they are washed or greased “.