A polymer that self-destructs? While once a fictional idea, new polymers now exist that are rugged enough to ferry packages or sensors into hostile territory and vaporize immediately upon a military mission's completion. ...
Materials Science
Aug 26, 2019
4
821
A new Tel Aviv University study describes a process to make bioplastic polymers that don't require land or fresh water—resources that are scarce in much of the world. The polymer is derived from microorganisms that feed ...
Polymers
Dec 24, 2018
17
1862
Imagine throwing your empty plastic water bottle into a household composting bin that breaks down the plastic and produces biogas to help power your home. Now, researchers have taken an early step toward this futuristic scenario ...
Environment
Aug 29, 2018
0
18
Colorado State University polymer chemists have taken another step toward a future of high-performance, biorenewable, biodegradable plastics.
Materials Science
Jun 22, 2018
5
418
Shannon Nangle finished her PhD ready to take on a new challenge and set her sights on research to help make Mars colonization possible. But she isn't pursuing research on rocket fuels or space suits. She's using synthetic ...
Space Exploration
Mar 6, 2017
0
46
The oil discharged into the Gulf of Mexico following the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) rig in 2010 contaminated more than 1,000 square miles of seafloor. The complexity of the event has made it difficult ...
Earth Sciences
Dec 19, 2016
0
175
The development of petroleum-based plastics is one of the crowning achievements of the 20th century, but they come with a hefty cost.
Materials Science
Jul 28, 2016
1
716
(Phys.org)—A trio of researchers has found evidence of obsidian tools being crafted for use in creating tattoos approximately 3,000 years ago by South Pacific Islanders. In their paper published in the Journal of Archaeological ...
The textbooks and journals said it couldn't be done.
Polymers
Dec 3, 2015
0
70
Researchers at the University of Georgia have developed an inexpensive way to manufacture extraordinarily thin polymer strings commonly known as nanofibers. These polymers can be made from natural materials like proteins ...
Nanomaterials
May 13, 2015
1
71
