Engineers intrigued by the toughness of mollusc shells, which are composed of brittle minerals, have found inspiration in their structure to make glass 200 times stronger than a standard pane.
Condensed Matter
Jan 28, 2014
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If you have a smartphone, take it out and run your fingers along the glass surface. It's cool to the touch, incredibly thin and strong, and almost impervious to scratching. You're now in contact with a "smart material."
Condensed Matter
Nov 27, 2013
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It is only a couple of molecules thick, and could not be thinner: the sheet of glass that scientists at the University of Ulm and Cornell University have discovered by accident. This discovery has now been acknowledged as ...
Nanomaterials
Oct 7, 2013
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Hold a magnifying glass over the driveway on a sunny day and it will focus sunlight into a single beam. Hold a prism in front of the window and the light will spread out into a perfect rainbow. Lenses like these have been ...
General Physics
Aug 12, 2013
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(Phys.org) —Researchers at Yale have developed a way to alter the microanatomy of glass and measure how the changes affect the material's overall character—offering new possibilities for tailoring glass with unusual strength ...
Condensed Matter
Jul 18, 2013
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(Phys.org) —Results from a microgravity experiment suggest that the rubble and dust covering asteroids and comets can feel changes in force-chains between particles over much larger distances than on Earth, making these ...
Space Exploration
Jul 4, 2013
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(Phys.org) —For the first time, scientists have mapped the structure of a metallic glass on the atomic scale, bringing them closer to understanding where the liquid ends and the solid begins in glassy materials.
Condensed Matter
Jun 10, 2013
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Bubbles in a champagne glass may add a festive fizz to the drink, but microscopic bubbles that form in a material called metallic glass can signal serious trouble. In this normally high-strength material, bubbles may indicate ...
Condensed Matter
Jun 5, 2013
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(Phys.org) —Fact or fiction? Stained glass found in medieval cathedrals becomes thicker at the bottom because glass moves over time. For years researchers have had their doubts, now a team at Texas Tech University has further ...
Materials Science
May 7, 2013
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(Phys.org) —Shattering a glass is a completely different experience than breaking a seashell, and Cornell physicists offer a notion – at the microscale – to explain why.
Condensed Matter
May 1, 2013
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