 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Top 10 Advances In Materials Science In The Last 50 Years
Oxford, UK (SPX) Jan 03, 2008 What are the defining discoveries and great developments that are shaping the way we use materials and technologies today? Elsevier's Materials today magazine has compiled a list of the top ten most significant advances in materials science over the last 50 years. The top ten includes advances that have altered all our daily lives. Some have completely changed the research arena, and others have opened up new possibilities and capabilities. They are: The International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors Scanning probe microscopes Giant magnetoresistive effect Semiconductor lasers and light-emitting diodes National Nanotechnology Initiative Carbon fiber reinforced plastics Materials for Li ion batteries Carbon nanotubes Soft lithography Metamaterials Surprisingly, top of the list is not a research discovery, but a way of organizing research priorities and planning R and D. The International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) drives the incredible progress of the microelectronics industry by setting out goals for innovation and technology needs. A mixture of science, technology, and economics, it is hard to see how the ITRS could do better in driving forward advances in this area. "I believe it is an appropriate first choice in our list," says Jonathan Wood, editor of Materials today. "Not only is electronics critical to our modern world, progress in semiconductor processing and advances in materials science have gone hand-in-hand for the last 50 years." Materials science studies what makes up our world - the metals, semiconductors, plastics we use to make all our devices, products, and technologies. It can be how to make smaller, faster transistors to give more powerful computers; understanding the electrical properties of polymers to produce cheap displays for cell phones; or analyzing how tissues in the body bond to medical implants. "I want this list to be a celebration of the achievements of materials science," says Wood. "Too often, this diverse, dynamic field gets squeezed out by the big boys of chemistry and physics. Yet it is crucial to so much of today's world." Related Links Space Technology News - Applications and Research
Light Is Shed On New Fibre's Potential To Change Technology
Bath, UK (SPX) Dec 11, 2007Photonic crystal fibre's ability to create broad spectra of light, which will be the basis for important developments in technology, has been explained for the first time in an article in the leading science journal Nature-Photonics. The fibre can change a pulse of light with a narrow range of wavelengths into a spectrum hundreds of times broader and ranging from visible light to the infra-red. This is called a supercontinuum. |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright Space.TV Corporation. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights 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 Space.TV Corp on any Web page published or hosted by Space.TV Corp. Privacy Statement |
