There’s a reason why Jony Ive has forged so much of Apple’s success from aluminium for the last decade or so. More »
Picture a metal that’s so clever it can be blown into a mold like plastic materials, then think of the amazing gadgets that could be crafted from it—things that make Apple’s unibody Macs look like child’s play. More »
Adamantite! Rearden Metal! Uru! Durasteel! Dalekanium! Unobtanium! Thousands of fictional characters have fought and died for these equally fictional supermaterials. So what is the real-life strongest substance on our puny, sun-warmed planet? More »
It can be bent into a U-shape, “heals” cracks with nothing more than rainwater, and is strong enough to build bridges from. Is Victor Li’s composite building material really even concrete anymore?
Two materials, lonsdaleite and wurtzite, have just been recognised as being harder than diamonds. Lonsdalite, similar to diamonds that its made from carbon, is formed during asteroid impacts, and is 58% harder than its cousin. Wurtzite boron nitride is formed during heavy volcanic eruptions and can be up to 18% harder than diamonds.
The folks at Popular Mechanics have put together a collection of 16 high-tech materials that we could find in future products. Of that group, we have selected some of our more obscure favorites.
