Glass

Tiny tubes and far away stars—large metalens images the night sky

By Guest Contributor / March 5, 2024

Researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences developed a method for creating 100-millimeter-diameter metalenses. Scaling up metalenses to this size makes applications in astronomy and free-space optical communications possible.

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Video: Free digital resource dives into the history of Roman-period glassblowing

By Lisa McDonald / February 28, 2024

Rome’s significant influence on the craft of glassblowing warrants its close study even today. A new freely available digital resource offered through the Corning Museum of Glass allows anyone to learn about this history from the comfort of their home.

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Video: ‘Share the Love’ event brings joy to parkgoers through hidden glass hearts

By Lisa McDonald / February 14, 2024

For the past four years, the City of Tualatin in Oregon has brought joy to residents through a unique treasure hunt, in which glass hearts created by regional artists are hidden throughout the city’s greenways during the month of February.

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Glass-coated DNA scaffolds receive power-up through inorganic infiltration

By Lisa McDonald / February 2, 2024

In July 2023, researchers announced the creation of high-strength, lightweight glass nanolattices by coating DNA origami scaffolds with silica. Their new open-access paper, published in January 2024, describes the functionalization of these glass-coated scaffolds by infiltrating the nanolattice with metal and metal oxide particles.

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Toward better glass design: Neutron scattering data reveal correlation between medium-range order and fragility

By Lisa McDonald / January 26, 2024

Fragility is a key glass property that helps manufacturers optimize processing parameters during glass fabrication. Measuring fragility, though, is a labor-intensive and time-consuming process. Identifying structural parameters that correlate with fragility could make predicting this property easier, and a new study led by Corning researchers reveals a correlation with the medium-range atomic ring structure.

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Saving the planet through passive cooling: New ceramic and glass radiative coatings offer stability and scalability

By Guest Contributor / December 12, 2023

Radiative coatings can passively cool buildings without the use of mechanical refrigeration equipment. Two recent papers describe the development of ceramic and glass radiative coatings that demonstrate resistance to environmental stimuli and potential for mass production.

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Video: Glass ornaments sparkle for the holidays

By Guest Contributor / December 6, 2023

Glass ornaments have played a central role in holiday decorations for almost two centuries. Learn about this history and where to find glass ornaments for this year’s winter celebrations.

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Waste glass as packaging material for high-power automotive lighting applications

By Lisa McDonald / December 5, 2023

Collecting waste glass is only the first step in creating a circular glass recycling system—there must also be end-use markets for the collected glass. A recent open-access study showed that waste glass could be used as packaging material for high-power automotive lighting applications, such as headlamps and side turn lamps.

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Recycling green technology: Microwave radiation facilitates deconstruction and reuse of solar panels

By Lisa McDonald / November 28, 2023

Semiconductor processing could benefit from the use of microwaves, which allows materials to be annealed faster and more selectively. Now, researchers in Australia demonstrated another benefit—it would make the deconstruction and reuse of solar panel components easier.

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A ‘wow’ finding—surface weathering transforms ancient Roman glass into natural photonic crystal

By Guest Contributor / November 17, 2023

Photonic crystals are manufactured structures used in many advanced optical devices to control the flow of light. Researchers in Italy and the U.S. discovered that an ancient Roman glass fragment naturally formed a photonic crystal structure on its surface through environmental weathering.

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