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Published online 27 March 2007 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news070326-6

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Plastic wards off barnacles

Polymer technology could speed ships by stopping critters clinging on.

Barnacles will no longer slow down ships if the latest polymer coatings being developed live up to expectations.

Critters that grow on the hulls of ships — known as fouling — come in two varieties; soft and hard.

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