Collaborate Disseminate
It’s long been assumed that when a metal structure like a bridge or an engine develops a crack, it will only get worse over time. But that might not be the case, based on what researchers have just observed happening in a tiny piece of platinum.Continu… Continue reading Metal found spontaneously healing itself like human skin
Collectors of trading cards or Pokémon are always on the hunt for super-rare shiny variants – and now astronomers have found the exoplanet equivalent. The shiniest planet ever found, LTT9779 b, is an ultra-hot, cosmic disco ball thanks to clouds made o… Continue reading Titanium clouds glitter on shiniest exoplanet ever found
The Earth’s inner core is incredibly tricky to study, since it’s buried beneath thousands of miles of rock. New seismic studies suggest that it’s not just a solid ball of iron, as has been assumed, but might have pockets of liquid iron throughout.Conti… Continue reading Earth’s solid inner core may have pockets of liquid iron
Although there are several methods of 3D-printing metal objects, all of them involve the application of heat – which isn’t conducive to producing certain heat-sensitive electronics, among other things. A new gel, however, can be used to print such item… Continue reading Revolutionary gel allows metal items to be 3D printed at room temperature
Different types of metal have different qualities, so combining them can result in items that outperform those made of any one metal. A new technique now allows such mixing to be performed by 3D printers, faster and easier than ever before.Continue Rea… Continue reading “Bimetallic” 3D printing tech produces better, stronger metal items
Strength and flexibility are two opposites that usually need to be balanced in steel. But now engineers at Purdue University and Sandia National Labs have developed a new treatment that can be applied to steel alloys to make them both stronger and more… Continue reading New treatment makes steel alloys both stronger and more flexible
The first solar panels may have rolled out of Bell Labs in the 1950s, with major press around their inconsistent and patchy adoption in the decades that followed, but despite …read more Continue reading There’s Cash in Them Old Solar Panels
Additive metal manufacturing can be done in a number of ways, but the idea is generally the same: you run a big printer that deposits molten metal in layers onto a substrate that then fuse together into a solid shape. By printing from the ground up, yo… Continue reading Cheap, fast induction tech enables unlimited-size 3D metal printing
Perovskites are one of the most promising new materials for solar cell technology. Now engineers at the University of Rochester have developed a new way to more than triple the material’s efficiency by adding a layer of reflective silver underneath it…. Continue reading Silver mirror triples efficiency of perovskite solar cells
One factor limiting the output of today’s power stations is the metals used in the blades, bearings and seals of their steam turbines, which tend to soften and elongate well before their melting point. Solve these problems, and you could conceivably ra… Continue reading Heat-loving lightweight superalloy promises higher turbine efficiency