The Stuff Of 5,000 Year Old Armor Could Be The Material Of The Future
Imagine a bullet-proof vest made from a relatively simple protein processed from water - fashionable for those high-risk warzones yet still environmentally terrific. Ancient people knew about this material 5,000 years ago and even made armor from it but modern science can't replicate it in a laboratory - though we are getting closer. The mystery material is silk fiber. Silk spun by spiders and silk worms combines high strength and extensibility and fundamental discoveries in how silk fibers are made have shown that chemistry, molecular biology and biophysics all play a role in the process. These discoveries have provided the basis for a new generation of applications for silk materials, from medical devices and drug delivery to electronics. read more