ASM 100th Anniversary Video

Not a ton of material science content here, just a bit of background about ASM, the former American Society of Metals. (Now they're ASM like how Kentucky Fried Chicken was just KFC for a while.)

I'll admit that I don't use ASM in the same way that most of the ASM members do. I have a few of their reference book on my shelves at school, but they're not things I refer to with any regularity at all. I'm not looking for the detailed, professional, industrial knowledge that most of their members are. Instead, I'm thrilled to be a part of the ASM Materials Education Foundation, the branch that looks to share out its knowledge with K-12 students and teachers.

But that branch wouldn't exist without ASM International.

I'm a little late in posting this 100th anniversary video from 2013, but I'm game for a reason to eat cake even if I'm late to the party.

Monoclinic Sulfur demonstration

It's always fascinating to me to see video from a summer teacher camp that I am not running because I only, really know how my camps run.

I know my jokes, my patter, my schtick, my bits. I don't know how most other folks run camp - a few of them, admittedly, but not many (Rebecca Heckman, Caryn Jackson, David McGibney, Debbie Goodwin, Andy Nydam, Cynthia Hummel, Brian Wright - thanks to all of you, by the way).

Above, we see Priscilla Oshikiri and Justin Sickles (Priscilla is in the purple, by the way) performing the sulfur demonstration - at least the monoclinic part. The amorphous part is below.

I'm always open to sharing videos from our camps. If you happen to have any to share, please link to them.

Cave of Crystals | 100 Wonders | Atlas Obscura

Yes, there is are a couple of hour-long videos about Naica cave, but sometimes we just don't have an hour to devote to that world's largest monocrystaline growths.

That's kind of why a video like this one - just under 3 minutes long - can be nice. It's a quick exploration of the Naica crystal cave, drained and being explored as of the time of these photos (no video, just stills).

I'd been hearing for a while that the caves 'were going to be refilled', but I just found - in a quick research bit - that the BBC reported in 2014...

In her discussion with reporters [Dr Penelope Boston] lamented the fact that the crystal complex had become flooded following the recent cessation of mining activities, preventing any further access. 

"It is tear inducingly beautiful down there. I wrote several poems about it actually.

What is Materials Science and Engineering?

Dude, we're shooting here.

At 1:34, some guy starts to walk into the shot on the far left edge.

I don't know why, but that bothered me. I feel like they could have re-shot that clip easily enough.

And at 2:30, what purpose is being served by melting that penny?

The video is, admittedly, an advertisement for Iowa State's MS&E program, but it's a nice, general introduction to what material science students study at university.

Chicago Train Operator Sets Railway Lines on Fire

That's frickin' weird to see, man...

The news this morning reported that it was so cold in Chicago that the train operators were setting the tracks on fire with kerosene-soaked ropes.

I don't know that the exact details there are correct. The video below shows the operators in Alaska using a product call FireSnake. Their website says...

80M010 is based on a special alcohol blend modified with cellulose thickeners and enhanced with special fibers for maximum heat output. Upon combustion, the special fiber material used in this product releases nitrogen, water and carbon dioxide 

.... 

FireSnake® is a smokeless, easy to use, safe replacement for the old repair method of diesel rope.

So apparently the old version is diesel-soaked rope, and now there's a 'better' commercial product.

Either way, the issue that's relevant for us at hand is that metal contracts when it's cold. That means if it's cold enough, the train tracks will actually contract and separate from each other. To repair the lines, the workers need to first get the tracks to expand enough to join. Then they can do the repair.

Hot metal = expand...cold metal = contract/shrink

Colored golds

Yeah, I don't really understand that graph/diagram/visualization.

I was looking around on the web about the various alloys of gold that can produce different colors and happened upon that diagram up there.

So, here's my question, how do I read the graph?

Like, let's say I wanted to make a gold that would be as yellow as the Y in the word yellowish on that diagram.

My reading of that alloy is that it would be about 55% silver,  50% copper, and about 50% gold.

That math doesn't seem to add up.

Can anybody tell me how to read this graph?

Sure, there's a bunch of info on the Colored Gold wikipedia page, but nothing there is terribly helpful either.

Touching plasma - Smarter Every Day 193

Let's get this out of the way first. The video isn't remotely about 'touching plasma'. Yes, somebody touches plasma at 9:30, but it's not elaborated on or explained in the least. The title is oddly useless, something I haven't seen from Destin before.

On the other hand, the video does have three minutes of high quality material science content early. From 1:05 through 4:20, Destin goes to Dr. Kavan Hazeli's lab and shows some of the testing of '3d lattice structures printed by NASA.' They're looking at ridiculously lightweight materials, trying to see how much metal they can take away (though it's created via additive manufacturing) while still leaving the 'material strong enough to withstand a space environment.'

We get to see an impact test as the researchers explore the difference in 'quasistatic' pressure and impact pressure tests to the materials. The sample we see tested in nearly pulverized and comes out 'perfectly flat' and hot.

It's like energy is transferred or something.

The rest of the video sees Destin visit two more labs - testing ion thrusters and exploring the fluid dynamics around a butterfly's wing - but they aren't nearly as material science interesting. Watch 'em or don't. Admittedly, at 4:55, Destin announces, 'are you not entertained,' and I'll admit that I'm not. Meh...

It's probably because I don't really understand what's happening with the ion thruster.