These new concrete materials, about 10x stronger than their conventional relatives, are a reminder that rearranging matter on a fine scale can change properties enormously. There are factors of 10x or more to be gained in many properties of materials and systems when we get better at structuring matter using low-cost methods. Biology gives a hint that the structure can of matter be controlled all the way down to the atomic level, and inexpensively at that. The consequences of this for energy and resource policies and politics have scarcely been considered.

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