Electron-rich metals make ceramics tough to crack

Researchers have discovered a way to make ceramics tougher and more resistant to cracking. By building these materials using a blend of metal atoms possessing more electrons in their outer shell, a team led by engineers at ...

Rethinking the incandescent lightbulb

A team of material scientists and engineers affiliated with a host of institutions in China took a new look at the incandescent light bulb and found a way to improve its efficiency. In their paper published in the journal ...

Parabolic mirrors concentrate sunlight to power lasers

Legend tells of Greek engineer and inventor Archimedes using parabolic mirrors to create "heat rays" to burn the ships attacking Syracuse. Though the underpinnings of that claim are speculative at best, a modern-day team ...

Sustainable structural material for plastic substitute

Plastic gives us a lightweight, strong and inexpensive material to use, but it has also caused the plastic apocalypse. Much of the unrecycled plastic waste ends up in the ocean, Earth's last sink. Broken down by waves, sunlight ...

Magnetism relieves electrons of their resistance

(PhysOrg.com) -- Physics is sometimes just like a criminal investigation. Researchers gather one piece of evidence after another in order to solve a mystery - for example, the question as to how unconventional superconductivity ...

Sustainable ceramics without a kiln

The manufacture of cement, bricks, bathroom tiles and porcelain crockery normally requires a great deal of heat: a kiln is used to fire the ceramic materials at temperatures well in excess of 1,000°C. Now, material scientists ...

page 2 from 12