Why are planes usually painted white?

If you look carefully at non-military airplanes such as a commercial airplane, you will notice that most are painted white. Ever wondered why airplane companies use white airplane painting usually? Two reasons for this are: the white color helps to cool the aircraft and protects the plane from excessive heat by reflecting sunlight. In this […]

Refuting a 70-year-old method for predicting material microstructure

According to new findings by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, a 70-year-old model used to predict the microstructure of materials doesn’t work for today’s materials. A microscopy technique developed by Carnegie Mellon and Argonne National Laboratory yields evidence that contradicts the conventional model and points the way toward the use of new types of characterizations to predict properties—and therefore the safety and long-term durability—of new materials.

What’s a skyrmion?

Skyrmions move across magnetic material by sliding from atom to atom. Here, each atom is indicated by a cone that points in the direction of its magnetization. As the swirl travels, atoms stay in place, but their magnetic poles rotate. Skyrmions may be a future option for fast, sturdy, small data storage.