The light stuff
Article Abstract:
Aerogel is a light solid material weighing just three times the density of air. It was first discovered in 1931, but its potential was not recognized until the late 1960s. The main Aerogel experiment team is currently led by Dr David Noever at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Centre. The material features extraordinary insulating power due to the large internal surface. Aerogel produced on Earth is light blue and permeated with tiny irregular pores, but samples produced in micro-gravity were clearer with a different microstructure.
Publication Name: Engineering
Subject: Science and technology
ISSN: 0013-7782
Year: 1999
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Challenging chips
Article Abstract:
The latest roadmap issued by the Semiconductor Association's International Technology group predicts that chip technology will continue developing, although further miniaturization will become more difficult. It suggests that Moore's Law should be amended so that new chip technology will take three years to make generation leaps, rather than two. It is predicted that new 700MHz chips will soon be available, while accurate speech recognition and photo-realistic graphics will not be available until 2003-4.
Publication Name: Engineering
Subject: Science and technology
ISSN: 0013-7782
Year: 1999
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Light saver
Article Abstract:
A research team from the UK's Defence Evaluation and Research Agency is developing a new 'glowing' material that will reveal seemingly invisible surface damage on military aircraft. The triboluminescent material, which emits light when it is damaged, also offers potential in other areas, such as sports equipment, racing cars and naval applications.
Publication Name: Engineering
Subject: Science and technology
ISSN: 0013-7782
Year: 2000
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic: