Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Material Tougher Than Diamond Developed

Posted by Zonk on from the diamond-is-so-20th-century dept.

sporkme has handed us a link to a New Scientist article. The piece outlines the development of a new substance reported to be stiffer than diamond. A team of scientists from Washington, Wisconsin, and Germany combined the ceramic barium titanate and white-hot molten tin with an ultrasonic probe. The new material was, in some tests, almost 10x more resistant to bending than diamond. Composite materials researcher Mark Spearing of Southampton University comments on the result: "The material's stiffness results from the properties of the barium titanate pieces, Spearing says. As the material cools, its crystal structure changes, causing its volume to expand. 'Because they are held inside the tin matrix, strain builds up inside the barium titanate,' Spearing explains, 'at a particular temperature that energy is released to oppose a bending force.'"

7 of 237 comments (clear)

  1. Stronger than...? by Thirdsin · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Stronger than CowboyNeal???? YOWZERS!! 8-)

    --
    No words of wisedom here.
    1. Re:Stronger than...? by poopdeville · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      If that's Rob, what does Big Rob look like?

      --
      After all, I am strangely colored.
  2. And cue... by d12v10 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    the corny penis jokes!

  3. Darn... by Aokubidaikon · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Now I have to the jewelers and have that diamond ring exchanged for a barium titanate one...

  4. Obligatory... by Rix · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Bend over, I'll show you something stiffer than diamond.

  5. Site is down! by Cedric+Tsui · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    How does a newscientisttech.com get slashdotted after 22 comments?

  6. Impossible by ThePsion5 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Unless they've "Discovered" Chuck Norris.