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Bizarre Properties of Glass Allow Creation of "Metallic Glass"

VindictivePantz writes to mention that scientists have discovered some bizarre properties of glass and are already applying that knowledge to create what is being called "metallic glass." "The breakthrough involved solving the decades-old problem of just what glass is. It has been known that that despite its solid appearance, glass and gels are actually in a 'jammed' state of matter — somewhere between liquid and solid — that moves very slowly. Like cars in a traffic jam, atoms in a glass are in something like suspended animation, unable to reach their destination because the route is blocked by their neighbors. So even though glass is a hard substance, it never quite becomes a proper solid, according to chemists and materials scientists."

7 of 265 comments (clear)

  1. So am I by UnknowingFool · · Score: 5, Funny

    is a hard substance, it never quite becomes a proper solid, according to chemists and materials scientists.

    So am I according to an ex-girlfriend. Thanks, I'll be here all week. Try the veal. Tip your waitstaff.

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    Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
  2. Re:LIQUID ALUMINUM??????? by lastchance_000 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I think you mean 'transparent aluminium"

  3. Re:LIQUID ALUMINUM??????? by wass · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hey, how do you know parent isn't the guy that invented it in the first place?

    --

    make world, not war

  4. In related news ... by PPH · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... residents of glass houses may now throw stones.

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    Have gnu, will travel.
  5. Re:LIQUID ALUMINUM??????? by jo7hs2 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Liquid aluminum? I think you mean Transparent Aluminum. Oh, I see, you are using a keyboard. How quaint.

  6. Re:LIQUID ALUMINUM??????? by dissy · · Score: 4, Funny

    Then why is the glass always thicker at the bottom of the window? They are load bearing windows
  7. Re:LIQUID ALUMINUM??????? by zapakh · · Score: 4, Funny

    Reading down, it seems that I was taken in. It's an urban myth that it's an urban myth that it's an urban myth. It "wants" to be true, but it's composed of these things that are like pentagons, so it gets "jammed" somewhere between fact and fiction.