Global warming is an existential threat to life on Earth. As our planet further industrializes, the release of greenhouse gases continues to rise. One of the foremost of those gases is carbon dioxide, ...

How nacre, or mother-of-pearl, is first deposited by the animals that make it has eluded discovery despite decades of scientific inquiry. Now, a team of scientists reports the first direct ...

For centuries, researchers have puzzled over how oysters grow stunningly symmetrical, perfectly round pearls around irregularly shaped grains of sand or bits of debris. Now a team has shown that ...

Mollusks build shells to protect their soft tissues from predators. Nacre, also known as the mother of pearl, has an intricate, highly regular structure that makes it an incredibly strong material.

While the shiny material of pearls and abalone shells has long been prized for its iridescence and aesthetic value in jewelry and decorations, scientists admire mother-of-pearl for other physical ...

Researchers have finally figured out how nacre – also known as mother of pearl – forms its perfect structure. As one of the strongest naturally-occurring materials known to science, nacre is coveted ...

The earth contains a plethora of strong materials, and most of these are yet to be discovered by humans. Mother of pearl, which is also known as nacre, is a material of astonishing strength with ...