Materials Sciences

The corrosiveness of a specific atmosphere can be established in a few weeks by thin slices of special glass. The sensors are capable of monitoring the outdoor environment as well as indoors, for instance in sensitive production processes such as chip fabrication.

Where does a Landrover develop rust faster: in the dusty Sahara or parked in front of an English stately home? The answer’s obvious: In rainy Britain of course. But the rate at which corrosion sets in is not only dependent

Over the next 17 months, Virginia Tech will lead a team of researchers exploring the development of a new class of materials that will use plant protein structures in an attempt to mimic biological systems. The Defense Science Office of the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) is funding the $2.1 million project.

DARPA is specifically interested in a group of hard polymers called nastic materials. In biology, nastic refers to the natural movement of plants in response to

At the 2004 Paralympics this week, Wojtek Czyz, the world record holder for long jump, will be trusting in space technology and expertise to help him win his first Olympic medal. For the competition, parts of the prosthesis he will be using are made from material designed for space to make it both stronger and lighter.

Czyz lost part of his left leg in a sports accident three years ago and in order to continue his passion for “everything that has to do with sport”, this meant that h

Pioneering fiber production methods similar to those of Kevlar(R), Zylon(R)

Rice University scientists are refining pioneering chemical production methods used to make pure carbon nanotube fibers. Research appearing in tomorrow’s issue of the journal Science describes the scalable production techniques, which yield highly aligned, continuous macroscopic fibers composed solely of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), the type of carbon nanotubes with the best mechanical and trans

Tamoxifen alone may adequately control breast cancer, avoiding side effects

Older women treated with tamoxifen after removal of early-stage breast cancer by lumpectomy may safely be able to avoid radiation therapy and its unpleasant side effects. In the Sept. 2 New England Journal of Medicine, investigators from several major cancer research groups report that adding radiation to post-surgical tamoxifen treatment of women age 70 or older does not improve survival, has minimal impact o

To the wonderment—and the befuddlement—of scientists, the patterns that form as plastics, metals and many other materials crystallize can vary incredibly, ranging from sea-urchin-like spheres to elaborate tree-like branches.

Now, Hungarian and National Institute of Standards and Technology scientists report in the September issue of Nature Materials* that they have developed a way to predict the polycrystalline microstructures that will form as complex liquid mixtures cool and