Even Sponges Are Complex Enough to Inspire Architects

Sponges are outliers in biology's big bang, the Cambrian explosion. Their embryos appear in Precambrian strata, leading some to consider them primitive. That's an illusion. New studies of how they construct their skeletons with silica "spicules" have revealed design principles remarkable enough to inspire biomimicry.

The punch line first -- here's how a news item from Cell Press concludes:

"This work not only sheds new light on skeleton formation of animals, but also might inspire interdisc...