Their initial discovery had seemed like a contradiction because most other polymer fibres embrittle in the cold. But after many years of working on the problem, the group of researchers have discovered that silk's cryogenic ...
Materials Science
Oct 3, 2019
0
686
Imagine a velvety, soft material that is extremely light, but also strong enough to stop a bullet. This is close to a description of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), a super-plastic material commercially ...
Materials Science
Oct 1, 2019
0
14
Materials scientists are always on the look out for new composites, materials comprising two or more different substances that combine to bring together the useful properties of each component and to overcome the limitations ...
Materials Science
Sep 27, 2019
0
7
Delicate wash cycles in washing machines found to release more plastic microfibres than other cycles.
Environment
Sep 26, 2019
2
378
Detectors for reflectometry need to detect a lot of neutrons in a very short space of time. This means they need to be designed with very high count rate capabilities. Unfortunately, current detectors need to improve to meet ...
General Physics
Sep 20, 2019
0
6
Optical fibres are our global nervous system, transporting terabytes of data across the planet in the blink of an eye.
Optics & Photonics
Aug 19, 2019
1
765
After years of depressing images of huge fields strewn with abandoned tents and rubbish in the aftermath of music festivals, it was heartening to hear Glastonbury Festival organisers claim that 99% of festival-goers' tents ...
Environment
Jul 11, 2019
0
0
Engineers have devised a fabric dressing whose thickness and elasticity can be custom-matched to specific areas of the body.
Bio & Medicine
Jul 1, 2019
0
5
A hair-sized probe that can measure key indicators of tissue damage deep in the lung has been developed by scientists.
Engineering
Jun 17, 2019
0
382
Europe's Ariane 6 launch vehicle is set to debut with a commercial mission in 2020—industry is carrying out the final tests and starting production. The Ariane 6 launch zone at Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana is near ...
Space Exploration
Jun 7, 2019
0
10
