Spiders and silkworms are masters of materials science, but scientists are finally catching up. Silks are among the toughest materials known, stronger and less brittle, pound for pound, than steel.

In these examples, a common strategy is the fusion of soft and hard elements (porous materials are considered an extreme case). Spider webs are such an example, with the web consisting of hard radial ...

The strength–ductility trade-off has been a long-standing dilemma in materials science. This has limited the potential of many structural materials, steels in particular. Here we report a way of ...

The mechanical strength and toughness of engineering materials are often mutually exclusive, posing challenges for material design and selection. To address this, a research team from The Hong Kong ...

Graphene is the strongest material in the world, according to new experiments done by researchers at Columbia University in the US. The secret to the material’s extraordinary strength, says the team, ...

As light as possible and as strong as possible at the same time. These are the requirements for modern lightweight materials, such as those used in aircraft construction and the automotive industry. A ...

With industrialization gaining momentum in the United States and new construction sprouting up everywhere shortly after the end of the Civil War, there was a growing need for better ways to test the ...

• AHSS steels have both high strength and good formability. • A mixture of microstructures gives AHSS their properties. • Designers should aim for structural efficiency, thin plates, and strong joints ...