Composite materials, like straw added to mud, have been used for centuries and great advancements have been made in recent decades. The new composites typically use super-strong carbon fibers and are used in jetliners and spacecraft. Of course even today's advanced composites could be improved. Enter yet another one of nature's solutions: our teeth.
New research is answering the age old question of how our teeth are able to perform under such extreme pressure. The jaw is powerful and it is a wonder that our teeth do not fracture more often. But our teeth are not made of simple materials. As one researcher put it:
Teeth are made from an extremely sophisticated composite material which reacts in an extraordinary way under pressure.
In fact our teeth's composition is not only extremely sophisticated, but our teeth also have a built-in ability to heal micro-cracks that develop. This example of a composite material found in nature may lead to advances in manufactured composites for aerospace and automotive applications.
Of course according to evolution life is a fluke. Darwin's theory, and all of its variations, would not have predicted such complexity. We now know the centuries-old idea is not a good explanation of life.
