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Transparent aluminium is 'new state of matter'
- codeslinger 17y agoI've been reloading the page for nigh on 20 minutes now and it keeps timing out. Just me or everyone?
- codeslinger 17y agoNevermind. downforjustmeoreveryone says its just me... Comcast strikes again.
- nico 17y agohttp://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/ http://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/
- dlnovell 17y agoOnce again, something from Star Trek is actually created. Hopefully transporters will be next.
- iron_ball 17y agoThe Star Trek invention I want to see is a peaceful federation of all human nations. And that invention, at least, is within the bounds of physical law, if not human nature.
- tjic 17y agoTotally boring / totally overhyped. Short version: if you hit a very few atoms with an obscene amount of energy, you blow some electrons out of their proper orbitals...and everything returns to normal the instant you turn the laser off. The aluminum is only transparent in the deep UV, and only transparent for as long as you keeping dumping insane amounts of energy into it. Big woop. This is a typical example of scientists becoming masters of the grandiose press release to hype something trivial into an attempt to get more grant money.
- kurtosis 17y agohear hear, sure the physorg article sucked, but the experiment itself was pretty good. I definitely wouldn't call either the experiment or the conclusions "trivial". This type of experiment and the development of bright tabletop xray sources is well worth the grant money invested. Also I think an important point is that while the pulses used to illuminate the sample have very high power they are only ~40 femtoseconds long so the total energy used is pretty small. The complaints about scientists and journalists overhyping their work to get funding, remind me of the accusations that tv networks and producers exploit sex and violence to boost ratings. The real problem here is that people like sex and violence and overhyped scientific results If you approach politicians and funding agencies with an honest balanced view as to the real motivations and likely value of proposed scientific projects, you will get kicked aside for someone who promises "star trek materials".
- joshwa 17y ago+1 for nihilism!
- dbz 17y agoThat's not quite a fair response. A similar response could be given to something like the Bose-Einstein condensate, and I personally find it very very interesting as well as important. "Freeze something at a really cold temperature and stuff like light moves at a slower speed than a walking pace*. Give this stuff a chance =p You never know what will come of it one day!
- biohacker42 17y agoPhysorg's editorial standards are not very high. I'm not sure what audience they are aming for by combining science articles with tabloid headlines. From this article: This turned the aluminium nearly invisible to extreme ultraviolet radiation. From a few years ago: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium_oxynitride http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium_oxynitride And: http://www.scifitv.com.au/Content/Blog/Pictures/Transparent_Aluminum.jpg http://www.scifitv.com.au/Content/Blog/Pictures/Transparent_...
- viraptor 17y agoJust wondering: google claims that "the speed of light * 40 femtoseconds = 11.9916983 microns". How did they decide whether something is transparent, or not in that kind of time / space limit?