The mineral in question (goethite - yup, named after the poet Goethe) is iron III oxide and hydroxide. It’s 5~5.5 hardness in the Mohs scale, so it’s softer than glass. The snail teeth is probably combining the goethite strains with proteins to make it so hard. I wonder if we couldn’t sub the proteins with kevlar or another para-aramid to create something similar.
The mineral in question (goethite - yup, named after the poet Goethe) is iron III oxide and hydroxide. It’s 5~5.5 hardness in the Mohs scale, so it’s softer than glass. The snail teeth is probably combining the goethite strains with proteins to make it so hard. I wonder if we couldn’t sub the proteins with kevlar or another para-aramid to create something similar.