Kansas State University and Peregrine Semiconductors are demonstrating a battery-free technology that could improve embedded multi-sensor systems such as those that might be used to detect deterioration in busy bridge. “This type of radio technology may exist in your house, for instance if you have a temperature sensor outside that radios data to a display…
Read MoreAgain, we present another beloved classroom demonstration in materials science. This one is a non-intuitive display of surface tension, residual stress, interior tension, potential energy and tempered glass. To create a Prince Rupert drop, molten glass is dropped into cold water. The glass rapidly forms into teardrop shape with a extended, fine tail. The material…
Read MoreReaders have expressed significant interest in our Dec. 5 post on the world’s third hardest material – BAM. Currently being tested at DOE’s Ames Laboratory as a nanocoating for machinery, BAM is thought to reduce machine friction and wear and, thus, make machinery operate more smoothly and energy efficiently. Because inquiring minds wanted to know more about…
Read MoreDuravit – a sanitaryware manufacturer with attitude – is on a mission. The company is determined to make toilets more visible and to change people’s attitudes about them so the humble “W.C.” gets more respect. This is the reason Duravit told famed French designer Philippe Stark to use a giant ceramic toilet as the centerpiece for its new design…
Read MoreCellphones charged by voice sound waves. Drug delivery systems enabled by minute body movements. Military equipment powered by the motion of soldiers walking? Self-powered devices like these are now one step closer to reality thanks to a Texas A&M professor’s discovery that when certain piezoelectric materials are produced at the nanoscale – specifically at about…
Read MoreThe steel-industry report in Iron & Steel Technology magazine’s Dec. 2008 issue documents some of the bad news that members of ACerS’ Refractory Ceramics Division are probably already aware of. The report – issued by World Steel Dynamics, the information-services firm that authors a monthly column on steel for IST – says that during the (now fading)…
Read MoreThere’s a ripple of excitement in the science and technical community. Imagine – an experienced scientist and successful administrator with a breadth of knowledge at the helm of the Department of Energy. Given the role DOE is going to play in the next few years, the selection of Steven Chu comes at a critical time.…
Read More(Hello to Ed Herderick, one of our new bloggers. Ed is working on his PhD in material sciences at The Ohio State University. His focus is on nanowire synthesis, characterization, and properties measurements, and if you ever want to yack with someone about the functional properties of oxides including gas sensing, piezoelectric, and ferroelectric properties-…
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The scientist featured in this video is M. Saiful Islam from the Department of Chemistry, University of Bath (U.K.), who provides a overview on the operations of a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and describes how his computer-based modeling techniques differ from lab-oriented approaches. Islam ‘s Materials Chemistry Group website has more information on clean…
Read MoreFewer soldiers will die on the battlefield if two U.S. researchers succeed in developing a project called “field hospital on a chip.” The project entails creation of a minimally-invasive sensor troops will wear into battle. Able to monitor, detect, diagnose and administer medication, the sensor will deliver life-saving treatment to soldiers long before medics can ever reach them, the researchers claim. “Since the majority of…
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