. | . |
A New Class of Glass
Washington - Mar 10, 2004 In the 1600s, Galileo's telescope changed our view of the cosmos forever. The key to the telescope: glass. Specifically, glass lenses created to make spectacles! "New materials always pave the way for new tools," says NASA's Dr. Michael Wargo. "These tools can do something as remarkable as changing the way we see the universe, or they can be used for practical purposes that improve life on Earth," explains Wargo, who is the Enterprise Scientist for materials science in NASA's Office of Biological and Physical Research in Washington.
Designer Glass "Most surgical lasers now use expensive single crystals like sapphires," explains Dr. Richard (Rick) Weber, a NASA-funded researcher who heads up the Glass Products Division at Containerless Research Inc., the small company that invented and produces the glass in Evanston, Ill. "These crystals are not only expensive to make, but also limit the range of operating wavelengths to very narrow bands of energy. REAl Glass will potentially give surgeons more choices -- letting them tailor the laser emissions, selecting the ones that work best for the specific type of surgery." The glass may also improve other common products and speed up computer communications. It can be used in high-power lasers that cut metal to make cars or other products. And designers can mold and shape the glass to make devices needed for next-generation optical communications equipment -- including small, low-cost glass components needed to create powerful broadband Internet connections.
It Only Looks Like Magic Inside the levitator, it looks like magic when molten, glowing glass floats in mid-air with no visible means of support. Actually, glass is suspended inside a chamber by static electricity generated by six electrodes. A laser beam heats the glass until it melts. Scientists, like Weber, measure the physical properties of the glass without interference of a container that would contaminate it. "Levitating the materials allows you to learn how to create new types of glasses that are hard to devise any other way," Weber says. "Containers often contaminate glass samples, so if you can melt the ingredients without a container, you can study the material and its properties in their most pristine form. Once you get the recipe right, you can learn how to make the new glass in a more traditional way, like melting it in a container and pouring it into a mold."
Hitting the Ball Farther, Catching the Sun In 1993, NASA-funded researcher Dr. Bill Johnson and his team at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena combined five elements to make an alloy that formed metallic glass when conventionally cast into bulk ingots -- a bulk metallic glass. The material is stronger and stiffer than its crystalline counterparts and is under development for numerous engineering applications. Their research included experiments on the ground and during two Space Shuttle flights in the 1990s. The precise conditions for forming bulk metallic glasses -- particularly several elusive properties of the molten liquids -- were identified and measured during these flight experiments using containerless processing in microgravity. Today, industry is using bulk metallic glasses to make tennis racquets, baseball bats and golf clubs. Other applications are under development including medical components, military hardware and cases for electronic devices, such as cell phones and computers. Bulk metallic glass tiles also are being used aboard NASA's Genesis spacecraft to collect material from the solar wind -- the stream of charged particles ejected from the Sun. Genesis is scheduled to return to Earth in September 2004 with samples of the first solar wind particles locked inside coffee-lid sized detectors including one made of bulk metallic glass.
Glass Bones Sometimes, the opposite is desired: a glass that won't dissolve until it reaches a specific destination in the human body. NASA-funded investigator Dr. Delbert Day, the Curators' Professor Emeritus of Ceramic Engineering at the University of Missouri-Rolla, has developed glasses that are so insoluble in the body that they are being used to treat cancer by delivering high doses of radiation directly to a tumor site. Working with NASA for more than 20 years, Day and his colleagues have conducted Space Shuttle experiments that indicate higher quality glass can be made in space. Like Weber, Day levitated the samples, but he used sound waves. In the low-gravity, or microgravity, environment inside the Space Shuttle, Day wasn't fighting the force of Earth's gravity. He was able to suspend much larger samples than he would have been able to levitate on Earth. The glass he produced in space without a container was much higher quality than Day had predicted, and he was able to learn more about its properties by producing it in space. "At high temperatures," says Day, "these glass melts are very corrosive toward any known container." As the melt attacks and dissolves the crucible, the melt -- and thus the glass -- becomes contaminated."
Space Glass Weber says making glass in space also is important for NASA's exploration missions. "Glass is a basic engineering material, and the materials you need to make glass are located on the Moon and other places," Weber says. "These materials can be liquefied and made into glass, but you have to know how to do it. The Space Station is a good test bed for learning how to make glass in space." Related Links Levitator at Marshall SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express
Kilgore Flares Chooses Algor Multiphysics Software to Reduce Material Costs Pittsburgh - Mar 10, 2004 Algor, Inc., a leading provider of design, analysis and simulation software, has been chosen by Kilgore Flares Company LLC, a member of the Chemring Group PLC and the largest supplier of military countermeasure (decoy) flares to the United States Department of Defense, to supply FEA-based multiphysics software.
--------------------------------------------------------- It's new. And it's downright terrific! Celestron's CPC Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope is the scope you've been waiting for! It offers new alignment technology, advanced engineering, and bold new design at a new, low price! In fact, Celestron's Professional Computerized (CPC) scope with revolutionary SkyAlign Alignment Technology redefines everything that amateur astronomers are looking for. It offers quick and simple alignment, GPS technology, unsurpassed optical quality, ease of use, advanced ergonomics, enhanced computerization and, most important, affordability. Want to view M-31 tonight? One button takes you there!
Shop for telescopes online at Telescopes.com! today!
|
|
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |