Materials Sciences

Spider silks could become the intelligent materials of the future, according to a review article published this month in the journal Microbial Cell Factories. The characteristics of spider silk could have applications in areas ranging from medicine to ballistics.

The distinctive toughness of spider silk could allow manufacturers to improve wound-closure systems and plasters, and to produce artificial ligaments and tendons for durable surgical implants. The silk could also be wo

In the future, the phrase smarty pants might be taken quite literally, referring to trousers embedded with electronic “intelligence” so that they change color, for example, in response to their surroundings.

The timing of this vernacular twist will depend on when plastic “chips” become practical–so cheap and reliable that electronic circuits can be printed not only on clothing but also on paper, billboards and nearly anything else. Unlike today’s largely silicon-based tech

Sending your favorite suit to the dry cleaners could one day become an infrequent practice. Researchers at Clemson University are developing a highly water-repellant coating made of silver nanoparticles that they say can be used to produce suits and other clothing items that offer superior resistance to dirt as well as water and require much less cleaning than conventional fabrics.

The patented coating — a polymer film (polyglycidyl methacrylate) mixed with silver nanoparticles —

Tiny nanocables, 1,000 times smaller than a human hair, could become key parts of toxin detectors, miniaturized solar cells and powerful computer chips.

The technique for making the nanocables was invented by UC Davis chemical engineers led by Pieter Stroeve, professor of chemical engineering and materials science. They manufacture the cables in the nano-sized pores of a template membrane. The insides of the pores are coated with gold. Layers of other semiconductors, such as telluriu

Ohio State University researchers are finding new insights into how microscopic corrosion attacks an aluminum alloy commonly used in aircraft.

They’ve developed a statistical model of the deterioration and simulated it on computer, using what may seem like an unlikely analogy: a cracking brick wall. What they’ve found could one day help scientists better understand this kind of corrosion, and also explain corrosion in other types of alloys. Although the alloy, called 2024-T3, is

Early correct diagnosis of breast cancer can mean the difference between life and death for the significant proportion of western women affected by the disease. Small clumps of calcium salts – microcalcifications – are often the earliest signs of breast cancer, and appear in 25% of mammograms. Oxford researchers have developed a new method to identify more reliably these clusters.

Calcifications appear as bright spots or clusters of spots; small clustered whorled calcifications ar