“Researchers have developed a highly robust material with an extremely low density by constructing a structure using DNA and subsequently coating it in glass.”
“I am a big fan of Iron Man movies, and I have always wondered how to create a better armor for Iron Man. It must be very light for him to fly faster. It must be very strong to protect him from enemies’ attacks. Our new material is five times lighter but four times stronger than steel. So, our glass nanolattices would be much better than any other structural materials to create an improved armor for Iron Man.”
im just glad someone is doing the real research
If they are writing using proper materials terminology then strength tells you a lot, since it has a pretty rigorous definition: amount of energy absorbed before failure.
Which, given one of the researchers themselves is quoted talking about its strength, I’m guessing they are even unintentionally being more precise than you’re expecting of them.
As for the properties: smaller sections being stronger is fairly normal amongst materials. The smaller a manufactured section, the more catastrophic any given defect will be. At a certain scale, you will be guaranteed to have either perfect, or already failed, material.