A compound of silicon and nitrogen that is incredibly strong over a broad temperature range. It’s the material of choice for the ball bearings in NASA’s Space Shuttle and is so strong it can smash concrete.

A metal that will conduct electricity without any resistance below a very low temperature, usually –234oC. Superconductors repel magnetic forces below certain temperatures and in very special conditions demonstrate the remarkable phenomenon of quantum locking.

A strong concrete panel that is also transparent. This concrete transmits light due to the inclusion of glass fibres which also give structural integrity. Their small size means they just blend into the concrete.

An engineered ceramic that has extremely high thermal conductivity; meaning if you hold an aluminium nitride wafer in your hand for a short time, your body will provide enough heat for the wafer to cut through ice like butter.

A material as tough as kevlar that has existed for more than 5 millennia. It is biodegradable, can be used in microelectronics, is edible, sustainable and biocompatible. Researchers have recently genetically engineered silkworms to produce stronger and more elastic ‘spider silk’.

A nanometre scale tube of graphite carbon with incredible tensile strength [50–100 times stronger than steel at one quarter of the density] and semi-conductive properties. Variations in their length, thickness, layers and type of helicity [structure] can completely change their remarkable electrical properties.