Investigating glowing glass droplets on the ISS

Researchers will soon be studying materials samples on the ISS. The materials in question are super-hard and corrosion-resistant alloys of palladium, nickel, copper and phosphorus—also known as metallic glasses. A high-tech ...

Printing optical chips as a layer cake

Faster, more energy-efficient ICT, or sensors to detect anything between beginning fruit rot and microscopic cracks in glass fibers: photonic technology holds great promises for the future. To deliver on those promises, a ...

'Super jelly' can survive being run over by a car

Researchers have developed a jelly-like material that can withstand the equivalent of an elephant standing on it, and completely recover to its original shape, even though it's 80% water.

Quicker, more precise way to find metallic glasses

Metallic glasses are being developed for a broad range of applications. The relatively new material is stronger than even the best metals, but with the pliability of plastic.

Smuggling light through opaque materials

Electrical engineers at Duke University have discovered that changing the physical shape of a class of materials commonly used in electronics and near- and mid-infrared photonics—chalcogenide glasses— can extend their ...

Unbreakable glass inspired by seashells

Scientists from McGill University develop stronger and tougher glass, inspired by the inner layer of mollusk shells. Instead of shattering upon impact, the new material has the resiliency of plastic and could be used to improve ...

New method to produce composites with 'shape memory'

Skoltech researchers have investigated a promising type of composite material in terms of their shape memory behavior—how they resume their original shape following deformation if exposed to the right temperature or other ...

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