Off and on reflection
Article Abstract:
Architects are able to use smart materials that allow buildings to adjust their environment to the prevailing conditions. Peter Duine has described windows that could be reversibly changed from transparent to a mirror state. These could have applications in energy-conscious architectural design. The research is based on a report of switchable optical properties in yttrium and lanthanum, involving a transition between the reflective metallic state and the translucent insulating stated. Philips worked on the good optical properties of magnesium and the good switchability of rare-earth elements, and the favoured material is an alloy of magnesium and gadolinium.
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 1998
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Shark skin and other solutions
Article Abstract:
A meeting on biomimetics and bionics discussed what nature has to offer the engineer. Studies of shark skin have resulted in drag-reducing coatings, and Velcro is a classic example of inspiration from nature. Genetic algorithms for minimization problems draw inspiration from random mutation and natural selection, and the question of stress minimization in structures could be addressed by an iterated finite element calculation, incorporating the fundamentals of bone growth.
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 1999
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Science in motion
Article Abstract:
The ways in which physical and biological sciences can collaborate to explain motion are presented.
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 2000
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
- Abstracts: Liquefaction of quicksand under stress. Smart polymer solutions. Controlling droplet deposition with polymer additives
- Abstracts: A one-hit model of cell death in inherited neuronal degenerations. Induction of neurogenesis in the neocortex of adult mice
- Abstracts: Future of German neutron source hangs in the balance. German centre set to improve brain's image. Call for monitoring plan on German GM crops
- Abstracts: Focusing light with light. Slow light in cool atoms. Faster than a speeding photon