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Plant biomechanics

High-endurance algae

Breaking waves place repeated loading on marine algae, which can lead to death by fatigue. But observations of one alga suggest that its joint structure, which lacks transverse connections, confers fatigue resistance.

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Figure 1: No stress.

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Correspondence to Emily Carrington.

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Carrington, E. High-endurance algae. Nature 503, 345–346 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/503345a

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