Scientists think that the prickly sea-urchin may be able to help us in the fight against global warming.
They have discovered that the small sea creatures can absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) from the sea which could be the key to capturing tonnes of the warming gas from the atmosphere.
The experts at Newcastle University made the discovery by accident when they were looking at how the urchins turn the CO2 gas into calcium carbonate to make their bony skeletons.
Now they are trying to find out how power stations and chemical processing plants can use the process to capture all their waste CO2 before it ever reaches the atmosphere and store it safely.
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