Slashdot Mirror
MIT Researchers Invent 'Super Glass'
redletterdave writes "On Thursday, researchers at MIT announced a breakthrough in glass-making technology, which basically involves a new way to create surface textures on glass to eliminate all of the drawbacks of glass, including unwanted reflections and glare. The research team wanted to build glass that could be adaptable to any environment: Their 'multifunctional' glass is not only crystal clear, but it also causes water droplets to bounce right off its surface, 'like tiny rubber balls.' The glass is self-cleaning, anti-reflective, and superhydrophobic. The invention has countless applications, including TV screens, as well as smartphone and tablet displays that benefit from the self-cleaning ability of the glass by resisting moisture and contamination by sweat."
But can you build a whale tank with it?
EA David Gardner -"... but the consumers have proven that actually what they want is fun."
To me, it sounds like a very bold claim to eliminate all the drawbacks from anything. Maybe you made it a little bit better. But I don't think there is anything in this universe that you can eliminate all the drawbacks. I mean even eliminating a drawback tends to make a new drawback. Lets say you made glass so durable that it wouldn't fracture when hit with a hammer, then you might not want to use that glass in an emergency box which says,"In case of emergency, smash glass"
God spoke to me
If you could incorporate this in vehicles windshields, you'd have the same benefits and maybe not need mechanical wipers or defrosters.
If this is as hydrophobic as they claim, I want a windshield made of the stuff.
I blame California.
...an influx of home videos of people running into sliding glass doors...and it is glorious.
But then how can we buy new TV sets that actually look glossy and new!
Why OpalCalc is the best Windows calc
So... does this mean our children will never have the experience of looking out the a window covered in drops of water on a rainy day? I know it's a stupid little thing, but there is something oddly therapeutic and beautiful about it. Almost sad that it might become a thing of the past.
I blame California.
Second.
Those fuckers think everything causes cancer!
Course, the sad part is, they're probably right...
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
Maybe polish it up so it shines.
Their they're doing there hair.
What I'd really like to see is a type of glass that is transparent in one direction *ONLY*... regardless of illumination levels.
the glass is more fragile than a nerd's dreams of world dominance and scoring hawt supermodels, so you'll have to layer it under mere mortal Gorilla glass, losing all of those amazing Super surface texturing effects. But at least it'll appear in the BoM, and on the marketing, and in the price. Particularly in the price.
Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
Generally speaking, you can see through it both ways... that's a huge drawback of glass in a lot of cases.
Tint or color, if any is present, is not changeable electronically
I expect also that this doesn't remove the disadvantage of having to replace an entire pane when it gets cracked... where having something you could treat in-place and the crack would simply disappear would be ideal.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
want to know is: Did it pass the finger smudge test?
Wow, glass with those properties being used for front elements on camera lenses would be amazing. Anti-glare without having to resort to all sorts of coatings, no fogging or moisture would be great too, especially if you're shooting in very humid environments.
As long as the micro-structures on the surface didn't change the optical properties so much as to be detrimental to the incoming light.
so this glass has really bad rabies?
I think it's reasonable to assume that worldwide a number of window washers die on the job each year. I would hazard a guess that it would be a statistically significant amount considering the dangers inherent in swinging about on a rope several stories up with a bucket of sudsy water. But I really rather doubt it was much of a motivation for the scientists in MIT.
It causes cancer
In lab rats. Fed a steady diet of it.
Which only translates as a risk to circus geeks who eat broken glass. Nevertheless, it will be banned in California (on the theory that the entire state is populated by circus geeks).
Have gnu, will travel.
For comparison with a water droplet (the closer to 180 degrees you get, the closer to a perfect non-wettable/sticky surface you have):
This new glass (165 degree contact angle)
The upcoming Neverwet material (160 to 175 degrees)
Lotus leaf or even some birds' feather (150 degrees)
Rain-X (110 degrees - car windshield protector)
Teflon (95-110 degrees - surprisingly low, but then it needs to be tough and heat-proof)
Car wax (90 degrees)
Human skin (90 degrees - PDF warning)
I wonder what the durability of the glass is compared to Neverwet w(which is pervious to solvents, detergents, soap and high pressure water)...
Why OpalCalc is the best Windows calc
On the other hand, I live in CA, and don't have cancer, and therefore get to laugh snarkily whenever I hear about some kid who has cancer in some other state begging make-a-wish to give him a nice day.
"Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
Coming soon: the $900 iphone 6 featuring "MIT Glass". People will buy it anyway.
I've seen glass with a frost layer sandwiched in the middle that was electronically unfrosted.
Sometimes, life itself is sarcasm...
if they can just find some way to magnetize it we can clean up broken glass with a magnet....
How is this different than hydrophobic? Does water cross the street when it see this glass? Does the water bounce off the glass with a higher velocity than when it landed?
It seems to be a good glass to make lenses for telescopes.
If is all as stated..then it has great application. Aircraft cockpit windows just for one. I am sure that fighter pilots would love to have clearer visibility ( at least thru the windows itself) while going 700+ mph in rain.
Porn-friendly monitors?
It is/We are. Welcome to California where we elect guys named Moonbeam to office. In our defense, you all promoted our astrology based governor to be president once...
whois gawk date unzip strip find touch finger mount join nice man top fsck grep eject more yes exit umount sleep dump
Not sure that's the best word to use when you're talking about glass!
I can't wait to watch people walk into these all day long
You don't have cancer . . . . . . yet.
Wait for it.
Spirit and Opportunity would have benefited greatly from glass that was self cleaning. Would not have needed to wait for Dust Devils and playful Mars Bunnies to clean off the photo cells.
This is what patents are supposed to be for, instead of "sure we know its obvious but this time we did it with a computer!".
Life's a bitch but somebody's gotta do it.
It's the minerals in the water that leave a residue. The water may splash off, but some minerals linger, and over time, they build up. They need to be cleaned off with something.
There is no mention of how light/heavy this new super-glass is? (when compared to regular glass)
And it just might - when these nice little 1000nmx200nm cones break off and you breathe them in, I wonder if it's better or worse than asbestos fibers. Mesothelioma here we come!
The surface sounds perfect to line the inside of a commode. Opaque better than transparent for this application, however. At least IMHO.
Remember: You saw it on Slashdot before you saw it at the rest stop. w00t
"No fear. No envy. No meanness." Liam Clancy
Anti-reflective? This could be used to help solar panels capture more light.
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
Sorry, got link wrong: http://www.solarroadways.com/intro.shtml
Oh nice, they will be great shower panels !! If you know what I mean ..
Been thinking a long time about 3D printing in the context of Neal Stephenson's - The Diamond Age. Particularly about the relative recycle-ability of various materials. Glass seems pretty ideal from a flexibility (can be used many ways) and recycling perspective. The high heat required to return it to a liquid state is a problem, as is it's brittleness (not suitable for as many applications as plastic).
Does anyone have a link to a glass 3D printing machine?
One of the reasons a popular cell-phone has sold so well is that it's made of glass and so shatters if you drop it. If this new glass is doesn't break when you drop it that will have a significant impact on sales.
"XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve your problem, use more." - Anonymous Coward
Marked +5 Insightful.
That's why.
It was a joke. Apparently no one got it.
"Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
We could name it the Splash/Pot.
Whooooosh. = *Sound of toilet flushing...*
"No fear. No envy. No meanness." Liam Clancy
Busted! Is that you Larry.... Jerry?
"No fear. No envy. No meanness." Liam Clancy
Superhydrophobic usually also means superlipophilic. It may shed water, but finger print grease is forever. Once you get enough grease on it, it won't seem so self-cleaning anymore.
They put micro-cones on the surface that are 5 times taller than they are wide. Might not stand up to handling or hail.
Anti-glare, self-cleaning, no reflections. There goes my ability to beat the red-light cameras.
As nice as it would be to have windshields and drinking glasses made out of the "super" glass, in reality, it won't be happening, at least not for a very very long time.
The fatal flaw in this "new" technology is that it requires precise and specific nano-scale texturing of the glass, but the only texturing methods that work on that scale right now are limited to very small flat surfaces. Eyeglasses *might* be possible, but at such an exorbitant price it would be entirely unpractical compared to glass/polymer composites that provide the same effect.
And even if they did manage to develop the mythical nano-scale rollers that would allow for production of the "super" glass in bulk, it would still be limited to just flat panes. Any sort of forming process (pressing or blowing into molds for cups, sagging sheets for windshields, etc) would also quickly destroy the fine surface micro-structure.
When I was a kid we went to the Corning glass museum in Corning NY. There they had a show room where they displayed all the stuff they could do with glass
I seem to remember one display in which a flame was applied to one side of a piece of glass and a pot of water was on the other side with a thermometer in it to show the temp was just room temp, despite being subjected to open flame , separated only by that pane of glass.
I wonder what ever became of that technology and why today it's not in every window in the world . The energy savings would be incredible- most air conditioning- heat or cooling- escapes through your window which has an R value of 2 or in the case of insulated glass unit (IGU) at best an R-value of 8.
Self cleaing windows save water and that's a Good Thing, but heat blocking glass saves energy and that's a Very Good Thing.
"The glass is self-cleaning, anti-reflective, and superhydrophobic." This sounds like the perfect glass for eyeglasses.
Please don't humanize the morons around me. It makes me very uncomfortable.