Polymers designed for protection
Adelphi MD (SPX) Mar 16, 2015 -
Today's soldiers rely on polymers as part of their protective systems. Polymers are molecular chains that can vary from a few linked monomers to millions of chemical units. With highly tunable properties and versatile processing they have become ubiquitous in use.
In the defense community polymer fibers are particularly well known, especially polyamide fibers such as Kevlar and Nomex and p ...
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Squeezing out new science from material interfaces
Chicago IL (SPX) Mar 16, 2015 -
With more than five times the thermal conductivity of copper, diamond is the ultimate heat spreader. But the slow rate of heat flow into diamond from other materials limits its use in practice. In particular, the physical process controlling heat flow between metals and diamond has remained a mystery to scientists for many years.
By applying extreme pressure in a diamond anvil cell to meta ...
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Engineers create chameleon-like artificial 'skin' that shifts color on demand
Washington DC (SPX) Mar 16, 2015 -
Borrowing a trick from nature, engineers from the University of California at Berkeley have created an incredibly thin, chameleon-like material that can be made to change color - on demand - by simply applying a minute amount of force.
This new material-of-many-colors offers intriguing possibilities for an entirely new class of display technologies, color-shifting camouflage, and sensors t ...
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Fluid-filled pores separate materials with fine precision
Boston MA (SPX) Mar 16, 2015 -
In nature, pores can continuously control how a living organism absorbs or excretes fluids, vapors and solids in response to its environment; for example, tiny holes invisible to the naked eye called stomata cover a plant's leaves and stems as gated openings through which oxygen, carbon dioxide and water vapors are transported in and out during photosynthesis and respiration. And some scientists ...
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Molecule-making machine simplifies complex chemistry
Champaign IL (SPX) Mar 16, 2015 -
A new molecule-making machine could do for chemistry what 3-D printing did for engineering: Make it fast, flexible and accessible to anyone. Chemists at the University of Illinois, led by chemistry professor and medical doctor Martin D. Burke, built the machine to assemble complex small molecules at the click of a mouse, like a 3-D printer at the molecular level.
The automated process has ...
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New information may help understand earthquakes
Amherst MA (SPX) Mar 17, 2015 -
New modeling and analyses of fault geometry in the Earth's crust by geoscientist Michele Cooke and colleagues at the University of Massachusetts Amherst are advancing knowledge about fault development in regions where one geologic plate slides past or over another, such as along California's San Andreas Fault and the Denali Fault in central Alaska.
Findings may help more accurately predict ...
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MARSDROP Microprobes Could Expand Spacecraft Mission Capabilities
Tucson AZ (SPX) Mar 19, 2015 -
Microprobes that piggyback on Mars-bound spacecraft could investigate areas currently unavailable to surface instruments, a Planetary Science Institute researcher said.
The payload could be steered to scientifically desired targets during the gliding phase, enabling a wide variety of enticing research locations including canyons, fresh impact crater sites, volcanic region and glaciers, PSI ...
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