This article was originally published by Hakai Magazine.
Stingray 12 is surprisingly calm for an animal that’s getting squeegeed. The ray, roughly the size of a dinner plate, is submerged in the sand of a tank about the size of a chest freezer; even the golden eyes on top of her head are buried in the sediment. She stays motionless as the researcher Ben Perlman, of California State University at Long Beach (CSULB), carefully pushes the sand from her mottled-brown body—the squeegee offering the scientist a little protection from the hazardous-looking barbs poking out halfway down Stingray 12’s tail.
“Sorry to bother you,” Perlman murmurs.
Six undergraduate students peer over his shoulder, and one, Carly Brenner, steps forward holding a 3-D-printed silicone human foot glued to a PVC pipe.
“A little closer, a little closer,” Perlman coaches, as Brenner brings the foot centimeters from the stingray’s body. “Go for it,”…