tough

If you’ve ever tried 3D-printing anything, you know just how flimsy the results can be. In fact, simply removing them from the build plate can make you sweat, since at any moment the beautiful statuette, replacement part for your refrigerator, or gift for someone special that took 10 hours to print can shatter into a pile of PLA garbage.

Knots are known for boosting the strength of materials, and now Caltech engineers have developed a new material consisting of microscale knots, showing that it’s far tougher than a version of the material made of the same stuff without knots.

A simple alloy has claimed the crown for toughest material ever recorded. A team led by Berkeley Lab discovered not only its incredible toughness, but high strength and ductility that improve in colder temperatures, unlike most known materials.

Inspired by seashells, scientists at Sandia National Labs have engineered a versatile new material that’s incredibly inexpensive, strong, lightweight, and heat resistant. The material could find use in shielding for spacecraft or fusion facilities.

As useful a material as glass is, being prone to cracking or shattering is a major downside. McGill University scientists have developed a new type of glass inspired by the mollusk shell that’s stronger and tougher, while retaining good transparency.

Researchers claim they've come up with the world's first manufactured non-cuttable material, just 15 percent the density of steel and impervious to drills or angle grinders. They say it could make for indestructible bike locks and lightweight armor.

When it comes to manmade fibers, they can typically either be strong or tough. A new material developed in part by Germany's University of Bayreuth, however, is claimed to be both.

Chinese company Doogee differentiates itself with devices that can be dropped, dunked or blasted with water or dust. Its latest phone is the Doogee S95 Pro, which packs a massive 48-megapixel camera and swappable speaker and battery modules.

​Smartphone screens seem to crack at the slightest breeze, but researchers at the University of Sussex might have a hardier alternative. A new material made of graphene and silver could lead to touchscreens that are tougher, easy to manufacture, more responsive, less power-hungry, and even bend.​

Handset manufacturer i-mate’s 810-F is so tough the company has given it a lifetime year-on-year warranty. That’s because it has already put the 810-F through a grueling set of tests and trials, including running a car over it.

The Olympus Stylus Tough-3000 shoots 720p HD in addition to being shockproof, waterproof, and freezeproof.

Dell has released another member of its Latitude range of rugged PC tablets, the XT2 XFR - 12.1-inch rugged convertible with multi-touch display - the smallest in its class.