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submitted 8 months ago by L4s@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world

Silk tougher than Kevlar thanks to genetically modified silkworms::Researchers in China have successfully genetically modified silkworms to produce spider silk. The silk fibres produced were 6 times tougher than the Kevlar used in bulletproof vests.

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[-] AlexWIWA@lemmy.ml 78 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

For anyone else that isn't an engineer and also doesn't know, toughness is a defined term in material science.

Toughness is the ability of a material to absorb energy and plastically deform without fracturing. One definition of material toughness is the amount of energy per unit volume that a material can absorb before rupturing. It is also defined as a material's resistance to fracture when stressed.

Sounds like it'd work better than kevlar for armor.

I thought the article was being lazy by saying "tougher" but TIL that's the scientific term.

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this post was submitted on 15 Oct 2023
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