“This looks like the kind of thin material you might make a trash bag out of. But that would be a waste because this material, made from carbon nanotubes, is stronger and more compliant than kevlar or carbon fiber. Carbon nanotubes have been an exciting prospect in material science for years now: At the microscopic level, they’re super strong and stretchy. But when you make a bulk material out of them, their properties are watered down because they become randomly arranged—and they need to lie in parallel to make the most of their strength. Now, a team of researchers from the East China University of Science & Technology have developed a way to create films where nanotubes are neatly aligned.”