Do you know what is the strongest substance on earth? You probably guessed that these are diamonds, and in a sense you would be right. It is generally considered the hardest natural substance on earth. But like most things, this answer is oversimplified. First, hardness (and strength) are not a single property. Materials can be very strong in one respect and very strong in another. Some are better at resisting scratches, while others are better at absorbing force. There are also new synthetic materials that combine these properties.

Diamond

On the Mohs hardness scale, a qualitative scale that measures the electrical resistance of various minerals, diamond's hardness is 10 (on a scale of 1 to 10, where 10 is hardness itself). The diamond is so hard that it needs to be cut with another diamond.

Darwin's Silk Web

The web of Darwinian bark is often considered the world's hardest biological substance (although this claim is now disputed by other biological material), stronger than steel and stronger than Kevlar. Also worth noting is its weight. A thread large enough to wrap around the diameter of the Earth weighs only half a kilo.

Flying Graphite Aerographite

This synthetic foam is one of the lightest construction materials in the world. It is 75 times lighter than Styrofoam (but much stronger!), and the material can be compressed up to 30 times its size without compromising its structure.

Microalloyed palladium glass

This substance, developed by scientists in California, is a near-perfect combination of toughness and toughness. The reason for this is that its chemical structure counteracts the brittleness of glass while still maintaining its strength.

Silicon carbide

This is the main material used in battle tanks. In fact, it is used in just about anything that deflects or refracts a bullet. It has a Mohs hardness of 9 and a low coefficient of thermal expansion.

Cubic boron nitride

Cubic boron nitride, which is about as strong as diamond, has one important advantage: it does not dissolve in nickel and iron at high temperatures. For this reason, it can be used to process these elements (diamond forms nitrides with iron and nickel at high temperatures).

Dynema

Considered the strongest fiber in the world. Perhaps most surprisingly, despite being lighter than water, it stops bullets!

Titanium

Titanium alloys are very flexible and have high tensile strength, but are not as hard as steel alloys.

Nanocellulose

This amazing new material made from wood pulp is stronger than steel and cheaper. In essence, nanocellulose is considered an inexpensive alternative to glass and carbon fibers.

Saucer teeth

We mentioned that the web of the Darwin bark beetle is one of the most durable biological materials on Earth. However, it turns out that the hat's teeth are even stronger than cobwebs. The teeth of limpets (water snails) are very hard. They have to be like this because they are designed to remove algae from stone surfaces. Scientists believe that in the future we will be able to reproduce the fibrous structure of the teeth of the limpets and use them in cars, boats and even airplanes.

Steel steel

This substance combines exceptional strength and toughness without loss of ductility. It has many applications in aerospace and instrumentation.

Osmium

Osmium is an extremely dense element used in products that require high strength and hardness (electrical contacts, handles, etc.).

Tanks Paper

This nanotechnology consists of carbon tubes that are 50,000 times thinner than a human hair. This explains why it is 10 times lighter than steel, but 500 times stronger.

Metal microgrid

Microlattice metals are the lightest metals in the world and one of the lightest structural materials on Earth. Some say that it is 100 times lighter than Styrofoam! As a porous synthetic material, it has a wide range of applications in many areas of technology. Boeing has mentioned its use in the aircraft industry, mainly for floors, seat frames and walls.

Carbon nanotubes

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are simple "seamless cylindrical hollow fibers" made from a single sheet of pure graphite. The result is a very light material. At the nanoscale, carbon nanotubes are 200 times stronger than steel.

Graphene airgel

Imagine the strength of graphene combined with unimaginable lightness. Seven times lighter than air, this incredible material can fully recover from over 90% compression and can absorb up to 900 times its own weight in oil. It is hoped that this material could be used to clean up oil spills.

At present, the Massachusetts Institute of Technologytitle is developing an as-yet unnamed substance

MIT scientists believe they have found the secret to maximizing graphene's two-dimensional strength in three dimensions. Their as-yet-unnamed substance is about 5 percent denser than steel, but 10 times stronger.

Carbin

Despite having only one strand of atoms, karin is twice as strong as graphene and three times as strong as diamond.

Wurtzite boron nitride

This natural substance was created under the intensity of volcanic eruptions and is 18% harder than diamond. It was recently discovered that it is one of two natural substances that are harder than diamond. The problem is that there are not many such substances, and they are difficult to test.

Lansdale Stone

This substance also consists of carbon atoms, only arranged differently. It and the boron nitride in wurtzite are one of two natural substances that are harder than diamond. However, like the previous substance, it is relatively small. Sometimes it is formed when meteorites containing graphite fall to Earth.