Strongest natural material ever found 23rd August 2019

The strongest natural material ever found is part of, surprisingly, a mollusc. Its name is Patella vulgata, or in everyday language, the common limpet. An edible sea snail found all around European coasts. The material in question is part of the ‘teeth’ with which the animal rasps over rocks in order to feed on algae. It consists of a protein reinforced with nanofibers of goethite, an iron-bearing mineral named after Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. See full article.