Why scientists are making transparent wood / The results are amazing, that a piece of wood can be as strong as glass::The material is being exploited for smartphone screens, insulated windows, and more.

  • Excrubulent@slrpnk.net
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    15
    ·
    11 months ago

    Tried and succeeded. Honestly I was thinking about the possibilities if he used the same treatment technique to glue the boards, and if he criss-crossed the grains like plywood. The biggest weakness of the composite boards seemed to be how well they were glued.

    Like I absolutely wasn’t expecting it to stop a real calibre, but there seemed to be a critical thickness where even 9mm practically bounced off.

    Also I’m really impressed with how simple the process was to replicate. Seems like the basic idea is, “the wood’s not alive anymore so we can strip out all the stuff it doesn’t need and just leave the structural fibres”.

    • Aux@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      9
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      11 months ago

      Cellulose is a pretty cool polymer. We can already turn into many things - from food to clothes to plastic. And many moons ago it turned into oil on its own!