DoE Develops Flexible Glass Stronger Than Steel 242
An anonymous reader writes "The Department of Energy Office of Science recently collaborated with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the California Institute of Technology to develop a resilient yet malleable new type of glass that is stronger than steel. The material can also be molded, and it bends when subjected to stress instead of shattering. The glass is actually a microalloy and features metallic elements such as palladium. This metal has a high 'bulk-to-shear' stiffness ratio that counteracts the intrinsic brittleness of glassy materials. The team that developed the material believes that by changing various ratios, they could make it even stronger."
Alas... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I was excited at first (Score:2, Insightful)
High cost encourages Apple customers.
Re:Obligatory... (Score:5, Insightful)
Because hydrogen and water are the same.
What does stronger than steel actually mean? (Score:3, Insightful)
What does stronger than steel actually mean? A spider web is stronger than steel, but I walk through them all the time. A diamond is stronger than steel, but I can hit it with a hammer and it smashes. Stronger than steel sounds good, but just like foods that say they are all natural, doesn't mean anything.
Re:Can I throw stones in a house made of this? (Score:3, Insightful)
You CAN, but you SHOULDn't.
Re:Obligatory... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Will it rust? (Score:5, Insightful)
Weight might not matter in space, but mass does.
Re:Mr. Scott (Score:2, Insightful)
Except that in HPA tanks (such as SCUBA), there is no liquid state of the gas in the tank so it wouldn't look any different at 3000 psi than at 500psi. Now for Carbon Dioxide this could be useful, if it were transparent that is.
Re:Scottie's here! (Score:4, Insightful)
Obsidian glass blades are far sharper than steel blades, and are sometimes used for scalpels. Some cultures did make swords out of them.