Strongest biological material on earth is…?

18 Feb 2015

It’s tougher than a bullet proof vest, stronger than kevlar, it’s strength has been compared to a strand of spaghetti used to hold up an adult female hippopotamus.

Scientists have discovered nature’s newest strongest material, and it comes from a limpit.

Or limpit’s teeth to be precise.

The findings, published in the Royal Society’s journal Interface, suggest that the secret to the material’s strength is the thinness of its tightly packed mineral fibres.

The finding has knocked the previous record holder off its top spot.

“People are always trying to find the next strongest thing, but spider silk has been the winner for quite a few years now,” lead author Professor Asa Barber  from the University of Portsmouth told the BBC. “So we were quite happy that the limpet teeth exceeded that.

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