I don’t understand what “natural” has to do with the article. The article mentions a new material that is transparent and has better insulating properties and makes no claim about being natural
I think it would be fair to call this wood fiber reinforced epoxy sheets.
Same reason we use MDF rather than Medium-density fibreboard.
Honestly, the manufacturing process sounds much simpler than other “wood” I’ve seen that has much more engineering / chemicals involved.
Thankfully we have had similar naming laws around the “wood” you mention. They are not perfect, but they are enough if you know what you’re looking for.
Ultimately this is about material science and the various trade-offs inherent in each choice. Cedar-strip canoes have a highly valued aesthetic quality but "wood-strengthened epoxy" is an accurate description of the material; the epoxy, however, is not the distinguishing feature of cedar-strip, kevlar, nor fiberglass canoes.
Like all evolving innovations, "transparent wood" seems to be searching for its killer application and I don't expect the name used by researchers to continue if/when it finds product-market fit.
> Scientists develop transparent wood that is stronger and lighter than glass
That’s the article title, and it’s very easy to argue that they are looking to misappropriate the “wood = natural (and renewable) resource” properties. The current HN title from the paper even goes a step further by pairing it with “Solar-assisted fabrication“.
The normal bleaching process is quite energy intensive, so that is also a win.
No. If it's not 100% all natural it's green-washing.