Science Daily  October 23, 2019 Nacre (mother-of-pearl) that lines the insides of mussel and other mollusk shells is known as nature’s toughest material. An international team of researchers (USA – University of Michigan, Australia, Germany) found that nacre is made of microscopic bricks made of a mineral called aragonite, laced together with a mortar made of organic material. The tablets remain separate, arranged in layers. When stress is applied to the shells, the mortar squishes aside and the tablets lock together, forming a solid surface. When the force is removed, the structure springs back, without losing any strength or resilience. […]

Eurekalert  August 12, 2019 Dislocation activity is critical to ductility and the mechanical strength of metals. In general, suppressing dislocation activity leads to brittleness of polycrystalline materials. An international team of researchers (USA – University of Wisconsin, George Mason University, UT Arlington, China) found that bending samarium cobalt caused narrow bands to form inside the crystal lattice, where molecules assumed a freeform “amorphous” configuration instead of the regular, grid-like structure in the rest of the metal. Those amorphous bands allowed the metal to bend. Next, the researchers plan to search for other materials that might also bend in this peculiar […]