Kevlar has been around for generations.

Its most common application has been with the use of bulletproof vests and other protective body armor because of the material’s unparalleled strength and durability.

It has also been known to protect a beloved smartphone or two.

However, alternatives to the petroleum-based super material are well on their ways to overthrowing their predecessor.

And the inspiration for these next-generation body armor technologies just may shock you…

Human Hair

If you tug on one of your hairs hard enough, you can easily pluck it right out. But trying to then break that strand of hair with your bare hands might be a little bit more difficult.

Human hair is very strong. But exactly how strong is it?

According to the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), it’s strong enough that it’s served as the inspiration for the next generation of body armor.

UCSD’s Yang Yu, Wen Yang, Bin Wang, and Marc André Meyers recently published a paper entitled “Structure and mechanical behavior of human hair.”

The paper discusses how human hair has a strength-to-weight ratio very similar to that of steel and also how its biological properties make it a suitable basis for new materials.

Human hair can be broken down into two key parts: the cortex and the matrix. The matrix is “an amorphous (random) structure,” while the cortex is made up of lots of fine fibers that are sitting parallel to each other within a coiled spiral shape.

Pulling hair makes the coiled spirals stretch rather than break. Interestingly, the faster the hair is stretched, the stronger it is. This means that it could deal with a sudden strong force effectively, without faltering.

High humidity also helps, hair being able to withstand up to 80% of deformation before breaking, compared to 50% when dry. Temperatures of up to 60 degrees Celsius can also be tolerated before the hair’s strength is negatively affected.

By researching the properties of hair at the nanoscale, the UCSD team believes that new materials could be developed with those same properties.

That level of strength combined with how lightweight hair is could usher in materials that are perfect for an advanced form of body armor.

Creature Slime

Older than the dinosaurs, the slime produced as a defense mechanism by prehistoric creatures could also be used for the future of bulletproof body armor.

The hagfish has been on this planet for more than 300 million years, and it calls the deepest and darkest depths of the ocean its home.

The snakelike depth dweller has no scales. So, over time, it has evolved to produce thick, surprisingly strong slime as a defense mechanism.

In threatening situations, the hagfish secretes the slime onto its predator. When the slime comes into contact with the seawater, it rapidly expands.

One foot-long hagfish possess hundred of miles of internal slime thread, which can expand up to 10,000 times in volume within a millisecond when mixed with the seawater.

Its slime is composed of thick mucus and threadlike fibers, making it ultra-strong and flexible.

Will synthetic slime be the basis of new body armor for the military or be bottled into a spray for protecting Navy divers? Maybe.

Scientists at the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) of Panama City, Florida, are studying this unique fish in order to unlock its full potential.

When the wet slime fibers are dried out, they become threadlike and may be woven for creating a wide range of defense apparel materials. And some scientists believe that it could be the key for next-level bulletproof vests.

Replicated slime could easily replace petroleum-based products like Kevlar because it contains comparable mechanical properties to Kevlar. But acquiring the slime might prove to be the most difficult task yet.

Natural hagfish reproduction still remains a mystery. Breeding in captivity has not yielded success. Therefore, hagfish farms are an unlikely solution.

Artificial reproduction in a lab is most probable, and the Navy team has successfully synthesized the slime for providing an assortment of military advantages over current bulletproof armor, such as enhanced strength and a lighter weight.

Spider Silk

Some scientists have also turned to spiders and their silk as inspiration for new formulations of body armor.

But recently, they’ve stumbled across something big. And let’s just say these aren’t your friendly neighborhood spiders, either. Scientists have mixed a graphene solution that when fed to spiders allows them to spin super strong webbing.

How strong? Strong enough to easily carry the weight of a person… And these spiders might soon be enlisted for helping in manufacturing enhanced threads, ropes, and cables — and possibly even parachutes for skydivers.

Graphene is a wonder material that is incredibly strong and similar to Kevlar in many ways, but it was definitely a shot in the dark to see what would happen when feeding it to spiders.

For the study, Nicola Pugno and a team at the University of Trento, Italy, added graphene and carbon nanotubes to a spider’s drinking water.

The materials were naturally incorporated into the spider’s silk, producing webbing that was five times stronger than normal. This put it on par with pure carbon fibers and Kevlar.

Stormtrooper Chic

Russia has developed new battle suits that seem to be visually inspired by the Imperial Shadow Stormtroopers from the Star Wars franchise.

And even though Russia’s version likely doesn’t come with a cloaking device, the high-tech armor does have a few tricks of its own, including nuclear blast-resistant technology.


The suit was developed by Rostec and is called the Ratnik-3. The suit features a powered exoskeleton that’s said to give soldiers greater strength and stamina, the latest in bulletproof body armor technology, a nuclear blast-resistant watch, and a full face-covering visor and helmet equipped with a video game-esque head-up display (HUD).

The Ratnik-3 is expected to be ready for use by 2022.

The U.S. is also working on a high-tech combat suit of its own. The suit, inspired by pop culture, has been aptly dubbed the “Iron Man.”

The Bottom Line

It’s truly interesting to see that, in this day of advanced technology, scientists are still turning to mother nature as inspiration for some of their biggest projects.

Seeing our favorite comic-themed entertainment brought to “life” is an extraordinary bonus, too.

What will they think of next?

That’s all for now.

Until next time,

John Peterson
Pro Trader Today