Abalone Armor
How the abalone turns soft calcium carbonate into a tough shell
Transparent Transistors
A new transparent material that can be used to make transistors in computer displays
Materials Roundup
A nanoparticle coating helps fabrics resist stains, and a new process to make spider silk without spiders.
Amorphous Steel
Non-magnetic steel that has the structure of glass is strong, lightweight, and corrosion resistant.
Dissolving Glass
Glass fibers that dissolve in the body can be used to reinforce bone as it heals.
Making Glass
How is glass made? (Heat sand, soda ash, and lime until liquid, cool into non-crystalline solid.)
Nanoconveyor Belt
A conveyor belt made out of a nanotube that carries metal atoms from one place to another.
Bone Roundup
Oyster blood carries the raw material for making shell and bone, and covering titanium joints with DNA nanotubes helps prevent rejection.
Squeezing Iron
Squeezing iron under high pressure and temperature to learn about Earth's core
Hard Diamonds
Diamonds made by chemical vapor deposition are harder than natural ones.
Microwaving Steel
Making steel with microwaves instead of a blast furnace
Semiconducting Nanotubes
Carbon nanotubes are the best semiconductors.
Tagging Explosives
Adding glass microbeads to explosives to make them easier to trace
Fun with Fiber
A moldable material made out of hemp fiber, and making superfine threads out of cotton waste.
Sea Sponge Fibers
The optical fibers of the sea sponge can help improve fiber optic cables.
Dryer Sheets
How do dryer sheets work? (Releases ingredients that neutralize static charge)
Yeast Wires
Prions from yeast form tough fibers that can be used to make microchips and nanotechnology.
Growing Vocal Cords
Attempting to grow vocal cords in the lab to replace damaged ones in the body.
Biodegradable Glass
Glass beads used for treating cancer and arthritis can also be used to repair bone fractures.
Bone Engineering
Artificial bone that mimics real bone's microscopic structure
Passive Ultrasound
Taking ultrasound by detecting the weak sound waves generated naturally by objects
Nanocrystals
Tiny fluorescent crystals attached to white blood cells make it easier to find tumors in the body
Bug-Killing Surface
A new polymer coating that kills microbes on contact