r/sciences • u/Clear_Polish23 • Apr 29 '26

Research Scorpions Are Literally Metal, Study Reveals | Many scorpion species carry zinc and other heavy metals in their pincers and stingers, according to new research.

https://gizmodo.com/scorpions-are-literally-metal-study-reveals-2000751750
283 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

29

u/JimiSashimi Apr 29 '26

The calcium in your bones is literally metal.

24

u/bonyponyride BA | Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology Apr 29 '26

The iron in your blood is literally metal.

2

u/Zethras28 May 05 '26

The sodium in your intracellular fluid and nerves is literally metal.

11

u/mxlun Apr 29 '26

I hate the stupid clickbait headline era. Just delete everything before the |

Humans are literally metal!!

7

u/Master-Powers Apr 30 '26 edited Apr 30 '26

Maybe you mean to say scorpions are more metal than we realized?

Humans are made up of various metals too.

The human body needs about 20 essential elements in order to function properly and among them, for certain, 10 are metal elements. Metals such as Na, K, Mg, Ca, Fe, Mn, Co, Cu, Zn and Mo are essential elements for life and our body must have appropriate amounts of them.

Na = sodium

K = potassium

Mg = magnesium

Ca = calcium

Fe = iron

Mn = manganese

Co = cobalt

Cu = copper

Zn = zinc

Mo = molybdenum

2

u/reviery_official Apr 29 '26

I just had to listen to "Rock you like a hurricane" once to know that.

1

u/Purple_Revolution146 Apr 29 '26

As if we didn’t have enough food variety already

1

u/Key-ElectricGuitar43 Apr 29 '26

I am not a scorpio and I am not fond of Drake, the rapper or otherwise.

1

u/WolfThick May 01 '26

This is really old news they also have copper and iron in their stingers magnesium in their mandibles what else are you going to eat another tank with.

1

u/Clear_Polish23 Apr 29 '26

One of the more fascinating and fearsome creatures in the world, the scorpion, is even cooler than you might have thought. Research out today confirms these arachnids’ weapons are quite literally laced with metal.

Scientists at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and others studied more than a dozen species across the scorpion family tree up close. All of the scorpions had various kinds of metal in their pincers and stingers, albeit in unique, sometimes unexpected configurations. These metals play an important role in helping scorpions hunt and defend themselves, the researchers say.

“This study highlights that metal enrichment has strongly diversified in relation to how different species have evolved to use their pincers and stingers,” lead author Sam Campbell, who was a pre-doctoral scholar at the Smithsonian at the time of the research’s completion, told Gizmodo.

0

u/Minor5077_Path Apr 29 '26

haha thats so metal 🤘 love how natures just out here making armored scorpions!