Materials Science
-
Materials Science
Spring in your step? The forces in cartilage
Researchers are uncovering the role of molecular forces in cartilage's ability to resist compression.
-
Materials Science
Wiregate: Metallic picket fence flips magnetic bits
Rather than relegate magnetic fields to the usual backup role of data storage for computers, a new microcircuit exploits those fields for computation, possibly leading to cheaper, lower-power chips than traditional electronic ones.
By Peter Weiss -
Materials Science
Tiny gems on steps find future in films
The discovery of diamond-crystal seeds on steps in silicon may lead to long-sought, large wafers of pure, single-crystal diamond for electronics and other uses.
By Peter Weiss -
Materials Science
Impurity clouds from all sides now
For the first time, scientists have obtained detailed, three-dimensional images of line defects in steel.
By Corinna Wu -
Materials Science
Small-scale glues stick to surfaces
Tailored molecular glues can connect together tiny particles for nanotechnology applications.
By Corinna Wu -
Materials Science
Beyond Jell-O: New ideas gel in the lab
Researchers have created a new class of hydrogels that might prove useful in tissue engineering, drug delivery, and other biomedical applications.
-
Materials Science
Self-Sutures: New material knots up on its own
Researchers have used a new biodegradable material to make surgical sutures that knot and tighten themselves as they warm to body temperature.
-
Materials Science
Membrane Mastery: Nanosize silica speeds up sieve
A novel modification to polymer membranes gives researchers a means to tune certain filters so they separate molecules more quickly and more selectively.
-
Materials Science
Steely Glaze: Layered electrolytes control corrosion
Experiments with ultrathin organic coatings applied to steel suggest a new technique for slowing corrosion.
By Ben Harder -
Materials Science
A Field of Diminutive Daisies
Researchers have created tiny daisies as a demonstration of a new technique that creates three-dimensional structures from carbon nanotubes.
-
Materials Science
Osmium is Forever: Rare metal’s strength humbles mighty diamond’s
A new route to materials harder than diamond may have opened with the surprising finding that the rare metal osmium resists compression better than diamond does.
By Peter Weiss -
Materials Science
Thin Jet Flies Two for One: Double streams yield sheathed nanoballs, fibers
Researchers have used powerful electric fields to stretch liquids into ultrathin jets in which a stream of one liquid encloses the stream of another.
By Peter Weiss