Weeks before hurricanes Helene and Milton ravaged our beaches, 10 Tampa Bay started looking into the results of a new study - an experiment that could suggest there's an effective and less expensive way to harden our coastline against erosion. The process sends electricity through the sand, an idea scientists say that got from watching animals that do the same thing naturally. While sand, by nature, is soft and grainy, run an electrical charge through it - and its possible, say the scientists who conducted the experiment, to create a hardened crust. That could make coastlines far less susceptible to erosion from waves, wind and tides. “It's electro deposition,” said Professor Alessandro Rotta-Loria, who leads a team at Northwestern University. Their experiment mimicked a natural process used by clams, mussels and other organisms to turn seawater and sand into shells and skeletons. But instead of using metabolic energy, scientists used a mild electric current and got the same results.