Alumina spinel castables play an important role in the steel industry as lining for the ladle sidewalls and bottom. A new review paper published in International Journal of Applied Ceramic Technology provides a detailed overview of these castables, including how various parameters affect their properties and performance.
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The inclusion of students with visual impairments in chemistry courses requires explicit and systematic effort. Researchers led by Baylor University explored creating lithophanes featuring data found in the chemical sciences to make scientific data accessible to everyone regardless of eyesight level.
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As the European Union prepares to ban the use of titanium dioxide as a food additive starting August 7, the United States Food and Drug Administration has no plans to change regulation of this substance. This situation illustrates the larger picture of how the EU and U.S. differ in their approach to chemicals regulation.
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The global submarine cable network carries about 95% of all global transnational communication data. However, it is vulnerable to disruption by human interference and natural disasters. To ensure continued operation, new monitoring systems and management regulations need to be put in place.
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The Global Seed Vault in Svalbard, Norway, demonstrated that countries can work together for the common good through preservation and long-term protection of important societal resources. Two new global vaults making headlines will involve ceramic and glass materials, with the former material being documented and the latter used as a storage medium.
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When archival footage of a young Queen Elizabeth II waving to the crowd during her platinum jubilee celebrations appeared, news outlets almost universally called this visual display a “hologram.” However, based on the video evidence available, it was most likely a different type of illusion technique, a Gizmodo article contends.
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Few musical instruments are made out of glass. In the mid-1700s, American polymath Benjamin Franklin was inspired by glass harps to design a friction-based instrument called the glass armonica. Though popular at the time, glass armonicas are largely forgotten today.
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Disruptions in the energy market are not the only market forces affecting the European ceramics industry. The war in Ukraine is also driving a shortage in supplies of Ukrainian clay.
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When heavy industry in the United Kingdom experienced a decline in the 1970s, scientific glassblowers began making and selling glass ships in bottles to stay afloat. An exhibition at the Scottish Maritime Museum looks at this unusual history and how it blossomed into a highly viable commercial enterprise.
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While superheroes offer an engaging hook to interest students in materials science, real-world materials can be just as fascinating and superhero-like. A new exhibit at Tellus Science Museum in Georgia uses materials found in everyday life to inspire interest in materials science.
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