New Atlas

Electronics Audio available

Bluetooth metal detector uses your smartphone to do its thinking

Ben Coxworth April 2, 2019

Although smartphones perform many tasks on their own, they're also able to make devices such as drones, robots and cameras cheaper and/or more capable by acting as their "brains." One of the latest gadgets to receive such a treatment is the humble – and potentially treasure-finding – metal detector.

The Air Metal Detector is currently on Kickstarter

Biology

Great white sharks are able to tolerate the negative effects of heavy metals

Anthony Wood April 1, 2019

The blood of great white sharks found in the waters off the coast of South Africa has been found to contain quantities of heavy metals that would be dangerously toxic to other forms of marine life, according to a newly published study.

The blood used in the study was drawn from 43 great white sharks that were captured ...

Bicycles Audio available

Weis unveils world's first "marketable" bike to be made of Super Magnesium

Ben Coxworth March 18, 2019

Yesterday the North American Handmade Bicycle Show (NAHBS) wrapped up for another year, held once again in Sacramento, California. Among the many fascinating bikes that we checked out was a model that's built from Allite's revolutionary new Super Magnesium.

The prototype Weis Hammer Track Allite Super Magnesium Edition, on display at NAHBS

Materials Audio available

Breakthrough process welds metal and glass together using ultrafast lasers

Michael Irving March 4, 2019

Traditionally, welding has been limited to materials that share similar properties. But now, scientists are claiming a breakthrough method that can weld together materials as different as glass and metal, thanks to ultrafast laser pulses.

A new breakthrough technology has allowed scientists to weld metal and glass together by turning to ...

Environment Audio available

Scientists use liquid metals to turn carbon dioxide gas back into coal

Michael Irving February 26, 2019

Capturing carbon from the air and sequestering it is emerging as a viable strategy, and now scientists have developed a new method to turn CO2 gas back into solid coal, that can then be buried, or even used for electronic components.

Researchers have developed a new way to turn captured carbon dioxide gas into solid "coal"

Materials

Hybrid fiber combines strength of metal and elasticity of rubber

Ben Coxworth February 25, 2019

Metal fibers are strong, but can't be stretched very far. Rubber fibers are stretchy, but they're not very strong. Well, scientists have combined the selling points of both materials into one type of hybrid fiber. It could be used in applications such as soft robotics.

A sample of the fiber is stretched in the lab – the silver sections are the ...

Science Audio available

Single-laser tech prints color graphics on metal

Ben Coxworth February 22, 2019

Although it's already possible to create colored images on metal surfaces using lasers, different TYPES of lasers have to be used for different effects. Now, however, Russian scientists have developed a method of producing multiple effects using one commercially-available laser.

The laser oxidation process was used to reproduce an illustration on titanium (left) that was originally ...

Materials Audio available

New welding process opens up uses for formerly un-weldable lightweight alloy

Ben Coxworth February 12, 2019

AA7075 is an aluminum alloy that's almost as strong as steel, yet it weighs just one third as much. Unfortunately its use has been limited, due to the fact that pieces of it couldn't be securely welded together. That's recently changed, however, thanks to the use of titanium carbide nanoparticles.

Grad student Maximilian Sokoluk (left), laboratory mechanician Travis Widick and Prof. Xiaochun Li, with a prototype ...

Materials Audio available

Together at last – device quickly bonds metal to plastic

Ben Coxworth January 29, 2019

Ordinarily, if you want to join metal and plastic items together, you have to use either adhesives or rivets. Engineers at Germany's Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology, however, have developed a bonding "gun" that they claim makes for a much faster and cheaper joining process.

Materials

Scientists get the lead out when creating safer brass

Ben Coxworth November 29, 2018

According to a 2016 study, 56 percent of Australian households produce drinking water that contains lead – this is thanks largely to brass plumbing, which leaches lead into the water. A new lead-free brass alloy, however, could help put an end to the problem.

Plumbing fixtures made from conventional brass, such as these, can leach lead into drinking water