The news broke that a railroad car, loaded with pure sodium, had just derailed and was spilling its contents. A television reporter called me for an explanation of why firefighters were not allowed to use water on the flames ...
Materials Science
Apr 24, 2019
2
9
Perovskites—a broad category of compounds that share a certain crystal structure—have attracted a great deal of attention as potential new solar-cell materials because of their low cost, flexibility, and relatively easy ...
Materials Science
Feb 7, 2019
0
13
Transparent electronics are the future, according to researchers including José A. Flores-Livas and Miglė Graužinytė from the research group headed by Stefan Goedecker, Professor of Computational Physics at the University ...
General Physics
Jan 22, 2019
0
6
The periodic table stares down from the walls of just about every chemistry lab. The credit for its creation generally goes to Dimitri Mendeleev, a Russian chemist who in 1869 wrote out the known elements (of which there ...
Materials Science
Jan 2, 2019
0
342
Unfortunately, concrete does not last forever. The ravages of time also take their toll on concrete structures in Switzerland. Not only are reinforced structures like bridges affected, but also concrete buildings without ...
Engineering
Oct 5, 2018
1
9
Century eggs, or pidan, are a preserved food made by fermenting duck eggs in alkali. The green and black color of these eggs is not very appealing at first blush, and the smell is even worse. However, this Ming dynasty innovation ...
Other
Mar 13, 2018
0
8
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory have found a way to create alkali metal hydrides without the use of solvents or catalysts. The process, using room temperature mechanical ball milling, provides ...
Materials Science
Dec 22, 2016
2
8
Scientists have looked for different ways to force hydrogen into a metallic state for decades. A metallic state of hydrogen is a holy grail for materials science because it could be used for superconductors, materials that ...
Superconductivity
Jul 28, 2016
1
2242
Does glass in cathedral windows flow downward at room temperature—acting essentially as a liquid in super slow-motion? No. It's a myth. The larger volume observed at the bottom of some windows is due to the manufacturing ...
Condensed Matter
Oct 16, 2015
1
1486
(Phys.org)—A team of researchers with members from Czech Republic and Germany has found that the general explanation given to high school chemistry students regarding the reasons for an explosion when alkali metals are ...
