I was re-reading the description of the meta-alloys, and I feel compelled to point out a few things.
Not to dampen the search, but, let's all just be aware that when you cargo scoop that first rare meta-alloy, you're capturing an organism of unknown origin and sophistication, and treating it like a building material. I'm not making any judgements, just laying out the facts
Ok, so, they're cells, part of some kind of living metallic alien entity. Meta-alloys seem to be analogous to wood or flesh, just, made of metals.Meta-alloys have a complex lattice structure with large internal voids. They are cellular in nature, and formed organically.
Or it's different because living cells are complicated and have different parts. It's not 'for strength', it's for biology!...the composition is different in different parts of the cell walls for strength.
So we're going to find these meta-alloys eventually, sell them to stations, and someone's going to slap it in a CNC machine and make spaceship struts out of them.They are easily machined...This material has been heralded as the next step in materials technology.
Not to dampen the search, but, let's all just be aware that when you cargo scoop that first rare meta-alloy, you're capturing an organism of unknown origin and sophistication, and treating it like a building material. I'm not making any judgements, just laying out the facts