I would like to write more posts like this, but I often put them off until they feel less relevant. But since you like them, I’ll try harder. You just continue making me feel cultured by proxy.

Sounds like a great idea. You could probably think of lots of useful applications where a strong, tough, and light-weight material would be desired. It is interesting that the paper and subsequent news coverage focuses primarily on textiles. The authors write that the physical dimensions of the tubes are similar to cotton fibers, but it could also be that they began this work trying to make stronger textiles for body armor, an application they mention more than once.

However, at the end of the paper the authors also discuss possible uses for “light-weight, high strength composite structures”, as well as “in situ self-healing composite structures, medical devices to deliver/release multiple drugs simultaneously, and microelectromechanical systems, to name only a few.”

The biomedical applications sounds promising, as researchers are always exploring small, porous structures that could be used for drug delivery or scaffolding for tissue engineering. For instance, due to their size, shape, and structure, carbon nanotubes are often talked about as possible vehicles for drug delivery or otherwise treating illnesses. But one of the many problems is that they are very toxic for humans. So the toxicity of these new structures would need to be investigated, as well the structures ability to be functionalized, or attached with, drugs or molecules necessary for these biomedical applications.