Holding Up Swimsuits

762 Words2 Pages

The beach is very enjoyable, but sometimes swimwear keeps us from enjoying the ocean. The wave movement ends up moving our swimwear around and sometimes the swimwear ends up out of place exposing more than what was intended. These incidents are embarrassing and uncomfortable. The swimsuit problem can be avoided by passing up the preferred suit for a less flattering suit, or staying out of the waves. These options merely avoid the problem instead of solving the problem. People in society should not have to avoid the waves because they are afraid of indecent exposure at the beach. Everybody should be able to have fun at the beach without constantly checking to make sure his or her suit is still in place.
Society needs something to help keep their suits up, a product that would be easily applied and inexpensive. A waterproof skin friendly tape would be the ideal solution. A tape would be easily applied, inexpensive, and not noticeable. The tape would have to be strong and be able to endure wave motion.
When researching possible mechanisms that could be useful to holding a suit in place, many sea creatures come to mind. Barnacles do the best job of securing themselves against the waves. The barnacles cement themselves to rocks (How, 1-4). When barnacles settle on a rock or boat for adulthood the barnacles use antennules that carry cement to the rock, “cement, which provides strong adhesion, is released as a clear liquid that hardens into an opaque, rubbery solid” (How, 2). Using the barnacle’s antennules as a model, a secreting tube full of adhesive could be used; however, this solution would require non-permanent adhesive unlike the cement. The barnacle’s adaptation is too permanent to be used as a model for the tape.
Octopus ...

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...s in place with its strong waterproof adhesive power. Using Frog Goo people no longer have to worry about their suits being moved around by the waves. Instead people can enjoy the beach and the waves.

Work Cited
"Geckos Inspire New Sticky Tape: Adhesive That Copies Lizards' Feet Can Clean Itself and Stays Tacky When Used on Dusty Surfaces." Mail Online Science Tech. N.p., 19 Feb. 2014. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.
Gilman, Casey. "Arboreal Locomotion: Aye, There's the Rub!" The Journal of Experimental Biology (2014): 635. Web. 5 Mar. 2014.
Hanna, Gavin, and W. JoN P. Barnes. "Adhesion and Detachment of the Toe Pads of Tree Frogs." The Journal of Experimental Biology (1990): 104. Web. 5 Mar. 2014.
"How Do Barnacles Cement Themselves to Rocks?" Museum Victoria, n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2014.
"The Secrets of Octopus Suckers." Phys.org. N.p., 28 Nov. 2013. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.

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