[Caitlin]

Science Daily

MADISON, Wis., July 3 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists are studying the remarkable shiny material known as mother-of-pearl in an effort to harness its simplicity and superb strength.
University of Wisconsin-Madison physicists said while the shiny material of pearls and abalone shells has long been prized in jewelry, mother-of-pearl -- also called nacre -- is 3,000 times more fracture-resistant than the mineral it is made of, aragonite.
"You can go over it with a truck and not break it -- you will crumble the outside (of the shell) but not the (nacre) inside," said physicist Pupa Gilbert.
Understanding the mechanism by which nacre forms would be the first step toward harnessing its strength and simplicity.
"We don't know how to synthesize materials that are better than the sum of their parts," Gilbert said.
"If you understand how it forms, you could think of reproducing it ... a so-called 'biomimetic' material," Gilbert said. "If we learn how to harness the mechanism of formation, then we could, for example, produce cars that absorb all the energy at the impact point, but do not fracture."
The research is detailed in the June 29 issue of the journal Physical Review Letters.
Copyright 2007 by United Press International. All Rights Reserved.

[Raisondetre]

Interesting. Imagine a MOP car ... it'd be pearl-fanatic haven ...

[Caitlin]

Not to mention piano keys!

I am so drooling over this. Imagine, no more pealing pearlescent or glitter paint on cars-it will be buillt in. I imagine it being grown in laboratories......

[Valeria101]

Hopefully the first application will not be really realistic fake pearls

Good to hear more reasons to be fascinated with the real deal in the mean time though

Thanks for posting !

[CortezPearls]

Mantle tissue can be grown in a laboratory, but the problem is finding out how to produce the hormone(s) needed to stimulate mantle cells into producing nacre...without it they will only produce nature's most common substance: mucus.
And maybe, just maybe, hormone synthesis itself could be incredibly expensive and it would not be an affordable or commercial solution.
Ah! the wonders of bio-mineralization...