#metals

[ahedderick]

This is the most beautiful scientific diagram I've ever seen.

Also a great example of why pink is a tint of red, but also a completely different color. Erbium? Neodymium? So beautiful.

[blue-nebraska]

bird collar pins, bronze and found metal chain

[nicolas010105]

[unbfacts]

Researchers in Switzerland found that wastewater and sewage sludge carry tiny traces of precious metals every year. Across the country, they estimated about 43 kg of gold and 3,000 kg of silver in a year. These tiny bits mostly come from industries that use precious metals, like watchmaking, electronics, and gold refining. It sounds like hidden treasure, but in most places the metal is spread out so thinly that recovering it would cost more than it is worth.

[iridescent-thistle]

AGATE (#60954884)

[materialsscienceandengineering]

A breakthrough that could make ships nearly unsinkable

More than a century after the Titanic, the dream of unsinkable ships is still alive, and scientists may be closer than ever.

More than 100 years after the sinking of the Titanic, the idea of ships that cannot sink continues to motivate engineers. Researchers at the University of Rochester's Institute of Optics have now taken a significant step toward that long-standing goal. They have developed a technique that makes ordinary metal tubes unsinkable -- meaning the tubes stay afloat regardless of how long they remain underwater or how much damage they sustain. The work was led by Chunlei Guo, a professor of optics and physics and a senior scientist at URochester's Laboratory for Laser Energetics. Guo and his colleagues detailed the new method in a study published in Advanced Functional Materials. Their approach focuses on modifying the inside surface of aluminum tubes by etching it to create microscopic and nanoscale pits. This textured surface becomes superhydrophobic, allowing it to strongly repel water and remain dry.

Read more.

[matbenetti17]

Vyre, Fairy of Metals