Scientists Created A Glass That Is Almost As Unbreakable As Steel

If you’re a human being, the chances of you dropping a glass of water on the floor and watching it shatter is a very high probability. This usually ends with curse words and a clean up that could give you a bloody finger. Luckily, researchers in Japan have developed a type of glass that is almost as unbreakable as steel. This will be beneficial for windows and tableware. No more boarding up windows for hurricanes anymore, Florida!

“We will establish a way to mass-produce the new material shortly,” explains Atsunobu Masuno, an assistant professor at the University of Tokyo’s Institute of Industrial Science. “We are looking to commercialize the technique within five years.”

How they made the glass stronger is by mixing alumina with the oxide glass. The problem with doing this is that if you put too much of the alumina into the silicon dioxide that makes up the oxide glass, it will cause crystallization when touching the container. How they bypassed this problem is they used a process that didn’t need a container to be used during its creation.

What the researchers did was push the components into the air — as seen in the photo above — where it is then created without having to touch a container. Because it has no contact, the glass now has a 50% composition of alumina to make it nearly as strong as steel.

Hopefully we’ll be able to buy this new glass within the time period the Japanese researchers have projected. The only bad part is that a new round of solicitors will be knocking on your door trying to sell you new windows every week.

(Via The Asahi Shimbun)

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Jeff Sorensen is an author, writer and occasional comedian living in Detroit, Michigan. You can look for more of his work on The Huffington Post,UPROXX,BGR and by just looking up his name.

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