Hard-shelled seaweed survives by its loose knees
Stringy joints between calcified algae’s segments don’t break easily under repeated stresses
![Pacific seaweed](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/sm_image001.jpg?fit=860%2C460&ssl=1)
WHAT LIES BETWEEN A close-up of a Pacific seaweed shows the hard segments that survive in surf thanks to the fracture-resistant tissue connecting them.
Patrick Martone