Bone is an important multifunctional biological tissue with remarkable mechanical properties: high strength and stiffness, high fracture toughness, and light weight. These superior properties are due, in part, to the hierarchical structure of bone ranging from molecular to macroscopic levels, Fig. 1. Nevertheless, it is not clearly understood how the microstructure and mechanical properties of various hierarchies at different length scales affect the overall behavior of bone. Such understanding is essential in orthopedics for designing implant materials and fabricating synthetic bone substitutes and also for assessing the effect of bone diseases and their medications on bone’s properties. It can, moreover, serve as a guide in design of advanced synthetic bio-inspired materials for a wide range of engineering applications.

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