Scientists at are studying the digging capabilities of the to figure out how to make a robot that can dig into the ocean floor, hold fast and then release and dig itself back out. The machine, dubbed the RoboClam, could be used as smart anchors, detonators for underwater mines or tethers for robotic submarines that need to be frequently repositioned to monitor currents and water temperatures.

The news about the robotic clam came out just days after another team of that they have used computer modeling to boost the output and efficiency of solar cells while lowering the cost of solar power.

"Our original goal was to develop a lightweight anchor that you could set, then easily unset -- something that's not possible with conventional devices," said , an associate professor in MIT's Department of Mechanical Engineering, in a statement. "We thought, 'Is there an animal that's well adapted to moving through sediments on the sea floor?'"

The answer to that question was the razor clam, a bivalve mollusk that has a long, narrow shell that generally ranges from an inch wide to 7 inches long. The clams are known to dig down at a rate of a centimeter a second, according to Amos Winter, a graduate student who worked on the project. They also can dig down to a depth of about 70 centimeters.

And Winter noted in a report that razor clams are incredibly strong. When measuring the force it takes to pull the clam out of the ocean bed, they found that they were stronger than even the best man-made anchors by a factor of 10.