A closer look
A squishy sea snail somehow manufactures better body armor than the Pentagon. If you look at chalk, it shatters easily because it's just pure, disorganized calcium carbonate. But the abalone builds nacre (mother-of-pearl) by laying down microscopic mineral bricks separated by highly elastic protein mortar. When struck, the protein layers absorb the kinetic energy and prevent cracks from spreading, turning brittle chalk into practically bulletproof aquatic armor.





