If Brent Constantz has his way, the coral reef’s genius for recycling and platform building will end up transforming the physical platforms of human settlements. In the late seventies, while pursuing a Darwinesque double major in biology and geology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Constantz became fascinated by the coral polyp’s extraordinary powers of biomineralization, its ability to build an immense structure of calcium carbonate durable enough to last for millions of years. Human beings may be justifiably proud of venerable engineering achievements like the Pyramids or the
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