According to the Scotsman, researchers now want to copy nature's trick of creating a material with a hard edge and a soft base.

The sharp beak of the three foot wide, aggressive and dangerous Humboldt squid is one of the hardest and stiffest biological materials known.

Scientists have long wondered how the squid uses this formidable knife-like weapon without ripping its soft body apart. One blow from the beak can kill or paralyse the squid's fish prey, but the beak also transmits significant force to the tissues holding it in place.

This would normally present a major problem, similar to someone chopping carrots with a sharp knife without a handle. The blade would be expected to cut the chopper's hand.

The new research, from the University of California at Santa Barbara, found that the squid's secret was having a beak with gradations of stiffness.

While the sharp tip is extremely stiff, the base is 100 times softer, allowing it to blend with surrounding tissue.

However, this property only applies when the base of the beak is wet. As it dries out, it becomes as stiff as the beak tip.

The study's findings are reported in the journal Science.

The Humboldt squid moves very rapidly as it swims, using a form of jet propulsion. As well as a lethal beak, the squid carries sharp suckers.

Describing the Humboldt squid, professor Herb Waite, one of the UC Santa Barbara scientists, said: "You wouldn't want to be diving next to one. A dozen of them could eat you."

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