Previous attempts to increase transparency of ferroelectric crystals have decreased piezoelectricity. An international team of scientists led by The Pennsylvania State University and Xi’an Jiaotong University now shows that selective engineering of domain walls can improve both properties.
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Many glass recycling initiatives focus on crushing the original glass product and turning it into something else. However, you do not need to necessarily crush glass to reuse it, as numerous “bottle houses” around the world show. Take a look at a few of the famous ones.
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With just under 200 of 12,000 satellites launched, SpaceX’s planned Starlink constellation is already causing major complications for astronomers. Global internet coverage could theoretically be achieved with only four satellites, and a new paper proposes a way to make such a constellation economically feasible.
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As the global batteries market expands rapidly in parallel with renewable energy technologies and electric vehicles, manufacturers are looking for new sources of critical materials. Deep sea mining is one possibility—but at what cost to the environment?
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Since 2007, more energy-efficient lighting has been replacing incandescent light bulbs in preparation of federal standards set to become effective this year. The Trump administration rejected these standards last month, but incandescent bulbs still are on their way out.
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Texas-based construction company ICON built the first permitted 3D-printed house in 2018. Now, working with nonprofit organizations New Story and ÉCHALE, ICON completed the first two of 50 planned 3D-printed houses to help local communities in Mexico.
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Though construction season is mainly ended for the year, sometimes critical construction projects cannot wait until spring. Learn how to effectively pour concrete in cold weather.
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The Basel Action Network is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing pollution dumping in developing countries. Learn what it is doing to prevent recyclers from exporting electronics overseas and find out how its e-waste sting operation in 2015 revealed a shocking betrayal.
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What if you could achieve a perfect strike every time you bowled? In today’s video, former NASA engineer Mark Rober teams up with James Bruton, a mechanical and electrical engineer, to create a controllable bowling ball.
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Have you ever wondered what it takes to create a float for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade? Find out the steps involved in the design process and take a look at the five new floats that will debut this Thanksgiving!
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