Almost anyone can tell the difference between a liquid and a solid. A liquid flows. A solid stays put. You pour a liquid and push a solid. The difference seems as clear as water and ice. But some stuff doesn’t fit neatly into either group, like the goop you get by dissolving cornstarch in […]
Almost every device that needs energy also wastes energy. Cars get their zip by burning gasoline, but that process heats up the car — and that heat is wasted energy. Computer batteries get hot when they’re in use; so do cell phones and kitchen appliances. All that hot air adds up: The U.S. Department of Energy estimates
James Bond and his enemies would be interested in the goings-on at the laboratory of John Rogers. So would Batman, the Spy Kids, Darth Vader and their enemies. That’s because Rogers, a materials scientist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, mixes electronics with the human body to create new devices not found even
Electronics engineers are constantly seeking the next great thing, the supermaterial that will allow for devices even smaller and faster than are possible with silicon chips. But research from this year has convinced some people that silicon’s successor may be none other than silicon itself—reinvented for the 21st century. Read more in the January-February 2012
Introducing silicene Read More »
Cleaning clothes usually requires soap and water to remove stains and smells, and a tumble in the dryer or an afternoon on the clothesline to dry. The time and energy needed to turn a heap of dirty laundry into a pile of clean clothes might make people wish for clothes that just clean themselves. That
Self-cleaning clothes Read More »
