In addition to the health impacts of Europe’s current record-setting heat waves and drought, the weather is leading more houses to experience structural damage as the underlying soil dries and contracts. Subsidence-related damages are a major problem for French homeowners, and insurers and the government have been in talks over how to better handle such damage claims.
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Nearly 100 participants from 26 countries met July 24–28, 2022, in Panama City, Panama, for the inaugural Pan American Ceramics Congress combined with the Ferroelectrics Meeting of Americas.
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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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Adapting to climate change not only requires updating our existing energy systems but also designing new ways of storing and transmitting energy that can better withstand extreme environments. Finnish startup Polar Night Energy just completed the first commercial installation of their new heat storage system, which stores thermal energy using sand.
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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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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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While India does well in research and development of semiconductor chips, the country has few semiconductor fabrication plants and none are for commercial use. In recent months, the Indian government laid the groundwork to bring commercial chip manufacturing to India.
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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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