Study reveals clue to glass mystery
(World News Science)

Addressing a centuries-old question, researchers have uncovered a key element to how glasses transition into very resilient states. This breakthrough could allow for more reliable ways to use glasses - metallic glasses in particular - in a wide range of applications. Bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) are a relatively new class of materials made from complex, multicomponent alloys. They have the moldable pliability of plastics at high temperatures but the strengths of metals at room temperature. BMGs owe their properties to their unique atomic structures: When metallic glasses cool from a liquid to a solid, their atoms settle into a...