August 19, 2008

Nano-Scale Springs to Protect Mobile Phones from Damage

nanotubes_20.jpg A team of Clemson University researchers, led by Apparao Rao, professor of physics, has invented a way to make beds of tiny, shock-absorbing carbon springs which possibly could be used to protect delicate objects from damaging impacts. Cellular News reports.

"With collaborators at the University of California at San Diego, the team has shown that layers of these tiny springs called coiled carbon nanotubes, each a thousand times smaller than a human hair, can act as extremely resilient shock absorbers.

The group also envisions coiled nanotubes in soldiers’ body armor, car bumpers and bushings and even as cushioning elements in shoe soles."

emily | 1:05 PM | Technology | Add this this entry to your del.icio.us bookmarks. Digg This Technorati search results for this Entry
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