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News tagged with fibers

Lenses can bend light and sound in almost any direction

(PhysOrg.com) -- When an optical fiber is bent by 90° or more, the light begins to leak away, posing a problem for fiber optics communications. But by using special lenses that can bend light by not only ...

Physics / Optics & Photonics

created Apr 02, 2012 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (12) | comments 17 | with audio podcast feature

Tube-shaped solar cells could be woven into clothing

(PhysOrg.com) -- Titania semiconducting nanorods grown on the surface of carbon fibers look more like bristles on a tiny hairbrush than a solar cell, but the novel configuration could have several advantages ...

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Mar 01, 2012 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (8) | comments 8 | with audio podcast feature

Scientists solve mystery of the eye

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have a good overall understanding of human vision: when light enters our eyes, it is focused by the lens and strikes the retina in the back of the eye. The light causes some of ...

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Nov 17, 2011 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (64) | comments 14 | with audio podcast feature

Physicists take steps toward delivering quantum information to the home

(PhysOrg.com) -- Today, fiber optics technology transports information in the form of classical data to homes and businesses. But researchers are currently working on ways to combine quantum data with the ...

Physics / Quantum Physics

created Jul 18, 2011 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (50) | comments 4 | with audio podcast feature

Transporting spatially entangled photons through an optical fiber

(PhysOrg.com) -- "Spatially entangled photons is a hot topic in quantum information science, and optical fibers are the cornerstone of our communication society," Wolfgang Loffler tells PhysOrg.com. "So fa ...

Physics / Quantum Physics

created Jun 30, 2011 | popularity 3.9 / 5 (8) | comments 1 | with audio podcast feature

Research team uses nanoparticles to make paper waterproof and magnetic

(Phys.org) -- Researchers at the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia in Genoa, led by Roberto Cingolani, have devised a means for connecting cellulose fibers in ordinary paper with nanoparticles resulting in new desired properties, ...

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Apr 20, 2012 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (8) | comments 1 | with audio podcast report

Nanocrystal-coated fibers might reduce wasted energy

(Phys.org) -- Researchers are developing a technique that uses nanotechnology to harvest energy from hot pipes or engine components to potentially recover energy wasted in factories, power plants and cars.

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Apr 17, 2012 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (9) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

In new mass-production technique, robotic insects spring to life

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new technique inspired by elegant pop-up books and origami will soon allow clones of robotic insects to be mass-produced by the sheet.

Technology / Engineering

created Feb 15, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (11) | comments 8 | with audio podcast

Silkworms spinning spider webs

(PhysOrg.com) -- A spiders silk is strong and more elastic and has a large range of possible medical applications. However, spiders have a history of being territorial and prone to cannibalism, so the idea ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Jan 03, 2012 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (15) | comments 4 | with audio podcast report

Cotton computing goes live at Cornell textiles lab

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers from France, Italy and the United States are weaving cotton with transistors for a new look in computing. Based on news about a lab at Cornell University, wearable computing is ...

Technology / Hi Tech & Innovation

created Dec 30, 2011 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (10) | comments 6 | with audio podcast report

Spandex manufacturer makes elastic electrical cable (w/ video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- Japanese company Asahi Kasei Fibers, which manufactures spandex and other textiles, has applied its knowledge of stretchable materials to make stretchable elastic power and USB cables.

Technology / Engineering

created Dec 02, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 17 | with audio podcast weblog

Shrimp-like crustacean found to make gooey underwater silk

(PhysOrg.com) -- Fritz Vollrath and colleagues from Oxford University have been analyzing the gooey material produced by tiny amphipods known as Crassicorophium bonellii, a small shrimp-like creature that p ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Nov 23, 2011 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 2 | with audio podcast report

Transistors are made from natural cotton fibers

(PhysOrg.com) -- Smarter, more functional clothing incorporating electronics may be possible in the near future, according to a study co-authored by Cornell fiber scientist Juan Hinestroza.

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Oct 27, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Why carbon nanotubes spell trouble for cells

It's been long known that asbestos spells trouble for human cells. Scientists have seen cells stabbed with spiky, long asbestos fibers, and the image is gory: Part of the fiber is protruding from the cell, ...

Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine

created Sep 18, 2011 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (11) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

Improving batteries' energy storage

MIT researchers have found a way to improve the energy density of a type of battery known as lithium-air (or lithium-oxygen) batteries, producing a device that could potentially pack several times more energy ...

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created Jul 25, 2011 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (15) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Fiber

Fiber, also spelled fibre, is a class of materials that are continuous filaments or are in discrete elongated pieces, similar to lengths of thread. They are very important in the biology of both plants and animals, for holding tissues together. Human uses for fibers are diverse. They can be spun into filaments, string or rope, used as a component of composite materials, or matted into sheets to make products such as paper or felt. Fibers are often used in the manufacture of other materials. Synthetic fibers can be produced very cheaply and in large amounts compared to natural fibers, but natural fibers enjoy some benefits, such as comfort, over their man-made counterparts.

For more information about Fiber, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

Related topics: materials