Articles tagged with "materials_science"

02/11/2013 14:14:33
Under the Hood of the Earthquake Machine
Douglas Smith
What makes an earthquake go off? Why are earthquakes so difficult to forecast? Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Geophysics Nadia Lapusta gives us a close-up look at the moving parts, as it were, at 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 13, 2013, in Caltech's Beckman Auditorium. Admission is free.
08/17/2009 07:00:00
Caltech and IBM Scientists Use Self-Assembled DNA Scaffolding to Build Tiny Circuit Boards
Kathy Svitil

Scientists at the Caltech and IBM's Almaden Research Center have developed a new technique to orient and position self-assembled DNA shapes and patterns--or "DNA origami"--on surfaces that are compatible with today's semiconductor manufacturing equipment. These precisely positioned DNA nanostructures, each no more than one one-thousandth the width of a human hair, can serve as scaffolds or miniature circuit boards for the precise assembly of computer-chip components.

06/15/2009 19:00:00
Caltech Scientists Use High-Pressure "Alchemy" to Create Nonexpanding Metals
Kathy Svitil

By squeezing a typical metal alloy at pressures hundreds of thousands of times greater than normal atmospheric pressure, scientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have created a material that does not expand when heated, as does nearly every normal metal, and acts like a metal with an entirely different chemical composition. 

05/11/2009 07:00:00
DOE Names Caltech Professor as Director of EFRC Focusing on Light-Material Interactions
Lori Oliwenstein

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science has announced that it will fund the creation of 46 Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs) over the next five years, including one that will be housed at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). That EFRC will be headed by Harry Atwater, the Howard Hughes Professor and professor of applied physics and materials science.  

12/19/2008 08:00:00
Caltech Scientists Create Titanium-Based Structural Metallic-Glass Composites
Lori Oliwenstein

Scientists from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have created a range of structural metallic-glass composites, based in titanium, that are lighter and less expensive than any the group had previously created, while still maintaining their toughness and ductility--the ability to be deformed without breaking.

08/29/2008 07:00:00
Caltech Scientists Create DNA Tubes with Programmable Sizes for Nanoscale Manufacturing
Kathy Svitil
Scientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have developed a simple process for mass producing molecular tubes of identical--and precisely programmable--circumferences. The technological feat may allow the use of the molecular tubes in a number of nanotechnology applications.
 
08/04/2008 07:00:00
Caltech Scientists Awarded $20 Million to "Power the Planet"
elisabeth nadin
In the dreams of Harry Gray, Beckman Professor of Chemistry at the California Institute of Technology, the future energy needs of the world are met with solar-fuel power plants. Now, a $20 million award from the Chemical Bonding Center (CBC), a National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Chemistry program, will help bring this dream one step closer to reality.
03/13/2008 07:00:00
One of Five Centers of Excellence for Predictive Science
elisabeth nadin

With a $17 million grant from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), the California Institute of Technology becomes one of five new centers of excellence that will focus on the emerging field of predictive science.

 
02/27/2008 08:00:00
New Method for Creating Tough Metallic Glass Composites
elisabeth nadin
Scientists at the California Institute of Technology have developed a new strategy for creating "liquid metal" that makes it able to bend significantly without breaking, while retaining a strength twice that of titanium. It is among the toughest, or least brittle, known materials, and could be used anywhere that strong metal alloys are traditionally found, but may prove most useful in the aerospace industry, where lower density means fuel savings.
 
01/10/2008 08:00:00
Energy-Efficient Refrigeration from Ultranarrow Silicon Wires
Kathy Svitil
Supernarrow silicon wires, or silicon nanowires, are laying the foundation for a new type of cheap yet energy-efficient microscopic refrigeration, with no moving parts, report researchers from the California Institute of Technology in a study published today in the journal Nature.
 
05/18/2007 07:00:00
Researchers Announce New Discovery about Polymers; Could Lead to Better Plastics
Robert Tindol
In the late 1960s, the memorable advice given to a certain graduate of movie fame was to go into plastics. Forty years later, Caltech chemical engineering professor Julia Kornfield would like to add the word "shish-kebabs."
 
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