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Scorpions Are Basically Tiny X-Men, Scientists Say

New research found zinc, iron, and manganese reinforcing scorpion stingers and claws like tiny biological weapons.

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Scorpions are already pretty metal. In the metaphorical sense, at least. They are hardcore, cool as heck, and super rad, like spiders if spiders carried a switchblade covered in venom. Well, according to new research published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, scorpions may also be literally metal. Or, at least, the most deadly parts of them.

Scientists from institutions including the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History examined 18 scorpion species using X-rays and electron microscopes. They mapped where metals such as zinc, iron, and manganese occur in their bodies. Surprisingly, they found that the metal was strategically placed around the body to reinforce the deadly little creature’s most important weapons.

For instance, high........

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