And high-tech ceramics are used to make everything from electronic components (capacitors and resistors) to the heat shield on the space shuttle.

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This month Goldman Sachs, an American investment bank, and Kyocera, a high-tech ceramics firm, became the latest in a string of companies to announce the launch of a fund to invest in high-tech Japanese start-ups.

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Mother-of-pearl is actually stronger than high tech ceramics, which are used in biomedical implants.

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