Imagine a world in which half of our electricity is generated renewably by offshore wind farms. Now imagine a powerful hurricane hitting the coast where that farm is located. If developers, engineers and policy makers haven’t prepared for this event the coast could face major consequences such as blackouts and brownouts. This is a scenario…
Researchers Unfold Secret Stability of Bendy Straws
Collapsible dog bowls, bendable medical tubes and drinking straws all seem to work on a common principle, snapping into a variety of mechanically stable and useful states. Despite the many applications for such “designer matter” structures, however, the fundamental mechanisms of how they work have until now remained mysterious, say materials scientists at the University…
Electrically Heated Textiles Now Possible
Commuters, skiers, crossing guards and others who endure frozen fingers in cold weather may look forward to future relief as manufacturers are poised to take advantage of a new technique for creating electrically heated cloth developed by materials scientist Trisha Andrew and colleagues at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. They have made gloves that keep…
New Molecular Property May Mean More Efficient Solar, Optoelectronic Devices
Chemists and polymer scientists collaborating at the University of Massachusetts Amherst report in Nature Communications this week that they have for the first time identified an unexpected property in an organic semiconductor molecule that could lead to more efficient and cost-effective materials for use in cell phone and laptop displays, for example, and in opto-electronic devices such…