On a recent vacation, we went to the Montreal Science Centre for the afternoon. The exhibit on silicon-based glass in all its forms was interesting. The only time that rheology reared its head in the exhibit was when glass was described as a solid liquid.
The videos attached to the website (in French with English subtitles) are excellent and cover mechanical resistance, electrical resistance, and thermal resistance. I particularly enjoyed the mechanical resistance video, which compared an impact-resistant windshield to a peanut butter sandwich.
I did some work on inorganic glasses when I was a post-doc at the University of Texas at Austin. One of the first things I learned was how unusual silicon-based glasses are, compared to other inorganic glasses. In particular, they have a high melting point and do not dissolve in water.
Note: the Centre is also hosting an exhibit on human sexuality, which may trip Internet filters and is NSFW.
"Note: the Centre is also hosting an exhibit on human sexuality..."
ReplyDeleteAnd not a single mention of rheology in connection with this? You are a stronger man than I.
Let's just say that the exhibit was very French, and it won't be appearing in the United States anytime soon.
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