Charlotte Hsu, University at Buffalo News:
Helmets that do a better job of preventing concussions and other brain injuries. Earphones that protect people from damaging noises. Devices that convert “junk” energy from airport runway vibrations into usable power.
New research on the events that occur when tiny specks of matter called nanoparticles smash into each other could one day inform the development of such technologies.
Surajit Sen, study co-author:
It gives engineers fundamental information about nanoparticles that they didn’t have before. If you’re designing a new type of nanoparticle, you can now think about doing it in a way that takes into account what happens when you have very small nanoparticles interacting with each other.
This will give engineers new type of material to played around with.