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Bio glass might help regrow cartilage

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Bio glass might help regrow cartilage

Bio glass might help regrow cartilage

The passage of time and injuries can take their toll on the cartilage in the human skeleton. The body’s capacity to repair itself is well known, but certain tissues don’t self-repair very well or very easily. Cartilage – that flexible, semi-rigid tissue that cushions joints, and gives noses and ears their distinctive shapes – is among those tissues that don’t really regrow. Bio glass developed by scientists at the Imperial College London and the University of Milan Bicocca may change that.

Bio glass could revolutionize joint replacement

The bio glass material acts like cartilage in load-bearing joints in the body, including the knees and spine. It offers the potential to help people who have lost cartilage due to injury or illness, and could help patients avoid having spinal fusion surgery. Spinal fusion is a typical treatment for people who have experienced the degradation or destruction of cartilage between vertebrae. The loss of cartilage causes significant pain, but spinal fusion reduces the patient’s ability to move freely.

The bio glass material, which is a combination of silica and a polymer called polycaprolactone. The compound is exceptionally interesting because it can be made into a biodegradable ink, which could permit 3-D printing of replacement cartilage. The substance can also be used to create a structure that encourages the growth of natural cartilage. It is resilient and shows some ability to “self-heal.”

The ultimate goal for bio glass is to develop a formulation that has the same mechanical properties as natural cartilage, but does not require any additional supportive structure. This would allow the bio glass to be implanted easily in a joint during reconstruction.

Bio glass isn’t new. The initial formulation was developed in then 1960’s as a way to help heal badly damaged bones. The new material is a reformulation of the initial substance, and is designed for both strength and flexibility. Don’t look for the new material just yet, however.

Scientists still need to refine their manufacturing techniques, test the material in humans, and develop ways to implant the material safely. They estimate that the treatment could be perfected and approved for use in about a decade.

While you may have to wait until 2026 for a replacement knee, you can get Glassprimer™ glass paint right now. Glassprimer™ glass paint is an industry leading product formulated especially to bond permanently to glass. Glassprimer™ glass paint can be tinted to match the palette of any major paint manufacturer. If you’d like more information about Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: Jerry Edmunson, via Flickr.com

Glasses can correct color blindness

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Glasses can correct color blindness

Glasses can correct color blindness

Color blindness is a common vision deficiency that affects about 8% of men and 0.5% of women. The most common type of “color blindess” is red-green color blindness. Affected individuals cannot distinguish red from green. A scientist who was trying to develop protective eyewear for surgeons has developed a pair of glasses that can correct red-green color blindness.

Glasses funded by NIH

Don McPherson, a researcher at Alfred University, was trying to develop eyewear that could protect physicians’ eyes during laser surgery. McPherson was playing a game of Ultimate Frisbee with a friend, and let him try the glasses on. The friend happened to be color blind – a condition that McPherson doesn’t suffer from. McPherson’s friend reported that his color vision changed when he wore the glasses.

McPherson applied for funding from the National Institutes of Health to help perfect the design of the glasses. He teamed up with a computer scientist to refine the design. In 2010, the pair formed a company called EnChroma, which sells the corrective lenses for $269-$349 per pair. The glasses don’t offer a permanent correction for the condition. Color blindness is a genetic deficiency and could only be “cured” with an effective gene therapy. None currently exist, but at least one promising treatment is seeking permission to conduct human trials.

EnChroma’s glasses aren’t the only eyewear available to correct color blindness. Several other companies offer color correction lenses. A Maryland optometrist offers both contact lenses and glasses that can allow the wearer to pass color vision tests that are required for certain types of employment. EnChroma does not guarantee that its lenses will allow the wearer to pass a color vision test, but says its glasses can help color blind people experience color vision.

At GlassPaint.com, we can’t correct color blindness, but we can help correct the absence of color – especially around glass! Glassprimer™ glass paint offers a highly UV resistant, durable paint that comes in virtually any color and forms a permanent bond with glass. If you’d like more information about Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: JoJo 77 , via Flickr.com

Light emitting glass glows

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Light emitting glass glows

Light emitting glass glows

An Australian team comprised of researchers from the University of Adelaide, the University of Melbourne and Macquarie University have developed a glass that glows in the dark without the use of photoluminescent coatings. They embedded photoluminescent nanoparticles into glass in what they call a “direct doping” approach. The nanoparticles are invisible – so they preserve the transparency of glass – but they glow when struck by ultraviolet and near-untraviolet light.

Smart glass could be shaped into optical fibers

The process can produce glass of any shape, including optical fiber, and was created using a two-stage melting process. The researchers envision the technology being used in medical imaging applications and 3-dimensional displays. The technique could be used to examine the status of individual cells in the body, bypassing the traditional luminescent dye processes used today.

The idea of using photosensitive nanoparticles isn’t new, but the production technique has been vastly improved using the new method. Prior to this, glass nanoparticles had to be created inside molten glass, which led to an uneven distribution of the desirable particles. Using the new technique, the glass nanoparticles are developed in a separate process, then added to the molten glass in a carefully controlled production process. That allows the researchers to control the distribution of the glass nanoparticles, and results in a more even (and more useful) distribution in the finished product.

The research team refers to the resulting material as a hybrid glass, and allows researchers to make a major step forward in the development of “smart glass” applications. Additionally, they believe that the two-stage approach to this glass hybrid could be used with other particles that could give glass embedded photonic, electronic or magnetic properties.

According to project leader Professor Heike Ebendorff-Heideprem, Deputy Director of the Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing, “We are heading towards a whole new world of hybrid glass and devices for light-based technologies.”

Glassprimer™ glass paint won’t make glass glow, but it does offer the ability to bring virtually any color to glass. It also offers unparalleled UV-protection, and can create translucent or frosted glass for about $1.00 per square foot. Glassprimer™ glass paint offers superior resistance to solar heat gain, as well as an excellent solution for sites where privacy is desired or required without interfering with natural light transmission.

If you’re looking for inspiration for decorating with glass, please visit the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Jon, via Flickr.com

The perfect beer glass?

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The Perfect Beer Glass?

The Perfect Beer Glass?

Cobra, a brand owned by brewer Molson Coors, says it has invented the “perfect beer glass.” The glass was the result of a collaboration among specialists at Birmingham University and Imperial College in London, along with Karmarama, a London-based advertising agency. Designers specializing in hydrodynamics and fluid dynamics worked together to develop the glass, which holds a pint of beer.

Beer glass was designed to improve taste, aroma and appearance

The “toughened” glass features a channel built into the interior surface, which guides the beer to the bottom of the glass. The channel wraps around the glass in a helical shape, creating a “whirlpool” effect inside the glass while the beer is being poured. The channel has a specific purpose; the agency claims that the channel releases aroma and flavor, and leaves the beer with a perfect head when the pour is finished.

Molson Coors is betting on the glassware to open the bar doors to Cobra, which has yet to develop a strong following among consumers during its 17 year history despite the brew’s accumulation of awards. Molson Coors is the world’s seventh largest brewer worldwide, but its Cobra beer is currently available only in the UK. Although the beer is made in Britain, it has its roots in India. The regional nature of consumer tastes in beer may explain why Cobra is still working toward broader brand recognition.

As a beer aficionado, you won’t get the intended benefits of the Perfect Beer Glass by pouring from a bottle. The interior channel in the glass is intended to be used with a special tap available only to commercial drinking establishments. In addition, the angle of the glass at the time of the pour factors into the “perfectness” of the result, and is also accounted for in the dispensing system.

Whether the perfect beer glass is hype or not remains to be seen, but Glassprimer™ has long recognized the specialized nature of glass. Our products are designed to take advantage of the special properties of glass, and to enhance their presence in both interior and exterior applications. If you’d like some glass inspiration, please visit the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: Molson Coors/Cobra

Scientists develop glass genome

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Scientists develop glass genome

Scientists develop glass genome

Researchers at Aalborg University and Corning have devised a way to determine what effect additives will have on glass without actually making the glass. Glassmakers have known for thousands of years that additives to the glass formula produce glass with different characteristics. The process of developing new glass “recipes” is always conducted on a trial-and-error basis.

Process will shorten glass development cycle
The resulting glass is then tested to determine what properties it possesses as a result of changes to the glass formula. With thousands of possible combinations, finding glass with specific properties is almost a random event. In addition, it is difficult to know how additives will affect the strength, density and melting point of the glass.

The researchers combined a number of computer models to determine what they’ve called the “genome” of glass. The models allow the researchers to create virtual combinations of materials, and accurately predict the physical properties of the resulting glass. The models speed the process of creating new glass mixtures, and allow the researchers to design glass formulas that will produce specific properties. The process has already been used to create damage-resistant glass.

The approach is important not only because it can predict the end-result of glass formulas, but also it can predict the manufacturing characteristics of the glass, like a particular formula’s viscosity and melting point. The ability to predict both the manufacturing requirements and the resulting product can help scientists develop “designer” glass for specific applications more quickly and with fewer surprises.

While much is already understood about glass, this represents a major advance in material development, and promises to lead to exciting advancements in glass manufacturing.
Glassprimer™ glass paint also represents a significant advance in glass coating. Glassprimer™ glass paint is specially formulated to make a permanent bond with any glass surface. Glassprimer™ glass paint can also bond permanently to other surfaces, like Plexiglas™, stone and masonry.

Glassprimer™ glass paint is easy to work with and cleans up with ordinary solvents. We also offer a water-based formulation. Both formulations are low-odor, low VOC mixtures and can be safely used in both interior and exterior applications.
For more information about Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: Alexey Kljatov, via FreeImages.com

Houston reboots glass recycling program

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Houston reboots glass recycling program

Houston reboots glass recycling program

Earlier this year, Houston joined a growing number of US cities that scrapped their glass recycling program because the city’s recycling contractor, Waste Management, determined that it was no longer profitable to include glass in the City’s curbside recycling program. Last week, Houston’s mayor announced that it had reached an agreement with Strategic Materials, the largest glass recycler in North America, to collect Houston’s glass in a pilot program.

Pilot program seeks to re-energize glass recycling

According to the City, Strategic Materials has placed two containers in centralized collection areas for residents to drop off their unwanted container glass. Prior to dropping off the glass, residents are asked to rinse out the containers and remove any caps, lids or corks. Strategic Materials intends to place an additional eight containers in other parts of the city. The City of Houston also operates nine glass drop-off stations for residents who want to recycle container glass.

Under the pilot program with Strategic Materials, the City of Houston will not receive any revenue for the recycled glass, but the pilot offers residents who prefer to recycle glass a free option for safely disposing of container glass.

The issue of glass recycling has emerged in many cities, as they try to cope with the increase in volume of container glass their residents generate at the same time the worldwide demand for recycled container glass has dropped. The City of Houston saved about $2 million by eliminating container glass from the list of items accepted by its curbside recycling program.

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, about 28% of all container glass in the US is recycled, and 80% of the recycled glass comes from residential sources. In the absence of municipal container recycling programs, the agency estimates that more than 90% of container glass would end up in landfills.

About half of all states have at least one glass processing facility that can manage recycled container glass. For the states that don’t have processing facilities, that means paying extra to transport recycled glass to the nearest processing plant. That adds costs and reduces the already-slim margins involved in recycling glass. The issue of cost is significant, and few municipalities have come up with cost-effective methods for recycling container glass.

At the same time, glass has become an architectural staple for both interior and exterior design. If you’d like to see some inspiration for decorating with glass, please check out the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center , via Flickr.com

Turtle Beach Debuts Glass Directional Speakers

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Turtle Beach Debuts Directional Glass Speakers

Turtle Beach Debuts Directional Glass Speakers

Turtle Beach, a manufacturer best known for gaming headsets, announced last month that it had developed directional speakers made from transparent glass. The company predicts that the glass speakers could be incorporated into desktop monitors and speakers, automobiles, and display equipment. According to Turtle Beach, the directional speakers could be used to enhance safety in automobiles by directing audible warnings directly at the driver.

Glass speakers can be incorporated into mobile devices

The new glass speakers generate a highly focused audio beam to listeners in a specific location. The company says that the technology, known as HyperSound, is similar to touchscreen glass, which incorporates multiple layers and electronic controls and sensors. HyperSound speakers feature a transparent film layered on top of thin glass, which facilitates a directable ultrasound beam.

The technology operates on low voltage, which makes it ideal for mobile and other low-power applications. Speaker panel size can be adapted to the application, meaning that the speakers can be incorporated into devices of various size.

Transparent glass speakers have a number of important commercial applications, too. Their specialty is creating a highly directional, focused beam of sound that remains clear over long distances. Because the beam is focused, applications can deliver sound to one person without disturbing others. This technology could be used to deliver information in a retail setting or a gallery. Directional audio could also be used to deliver warnings and advice. Turtle Beach envisions applications that include banking, entertainment, food service, health and fitness, hospitality, museums, retail, theme parks and trade shows.

According to the company, the glass speakers are already being tested in two different environments. Build-A-Bear Workshop is testing the HyperSound technology in its stores to provide audio at different workstations within the store. Turtle Beach also says that McDonald’s is conducting a pilot test of the technology in some of its restaurant to provide television audio at dining tables, which allows guests to watch video feeds at their tables without disturbing other diners in the area.

Glassprimer™ glass paint won’t provide directional sound, but it does offer an impressive array of color designed to be applied directly to glass surfaces. If you’re looking for design inspiration from glass, please view the rest of our website. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: Turtle Beach

Could glass have a role in concrete?

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Could glass have a role in concrete?

Could glass have a role in concrete?

Sometimes, people use the words “cement” and “concrete” interchangeably, but in reality, cement is a component of concrete. Concrete is a combination of aggregate (small stones) and liquid cement that cures or hardens over time. The cement binds the aggregate together and makes what appears to be a uniform surface.

Glass powder could be used as a pozzolan

In cement production, additives (called pozzolans) are combined with the mixture to improve the performance of the cement or give it more desirable qualities. Typically, pozzolans are silica-based or aluminum-based. Pozzolans have been used for thousands of years to improve the performance of cement. In fact, pozzolans of volcanic origin have been found in cements made in ancient Crete and Rome.

Today, pozzolans can be natural or synthetic. Two common pozzolans are fly ash, a by-product of burned coal, and silica fume, a by-product of silica smelting. Coal-fired power plants are a major source of fly ash, but fly ash is becoming scarcer as more coal-fired power plants either shut down or convert to natural gas.

Engineering students at the City College of New York (CCNY) have been experimenting with glass powder as a replacement pozzolan for fly ash. The high silica content of glass gives it a high potential. The researchers used glass powder from colored glass that had no recycling value. Although glass is infinitely recyclable, some glass pieces are too small to recycle, and colored glass must be matched with similarly colored glass before being recycled.

Used as a pozzolan, glass powder has some interesting advantages. The cement production process generates CO2, which is released into the air. Substituting glass powder for fly ash reduces the CO2 emissions associated with cement production.

One question about the use of glass powder as a pozzolan is strength. What impact will the use of glass have on the finished product? The researchers have teamed up with the New York City Department of Design and Construction to test the substitute in action. In May, the Department laid down some concrete sidewalk in South Jamaica, NY that uses the new glass-based cement. The City and the researchers will observe the performance of the concrete over time.

CCNY researchers aren’t the only ones looking at the material strength of glass in cement. A research team from the University of British Columbia is experimenting with the combination of polymers, fly ash and glass powder as a potential replacement for some volume of aggregate materials in concrete. The team has determined that it may be able to replace as much as 25% of the aggregate with the glass powder mixture.

Innovative uses for glass can help keep the material out of landfills, even when recycling it back into container glass is no longer an option. We’re not sure what the decorating value of glass powder is, but if you’re considering working with larger pieces of glass and want some inspiration, please check out the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: Hideya Hamano, via Flickr.com

German researchers make liquid glass

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German researchers make liquid glass

German researchers make liquid glass

On the surface, liquid glass doesn’t seem like a major advance. After all, during the standard glass-making process, the silica mixture is molten. In its molten state, the glass mixture is about 2,700° F. Molten glass is shaped, and then cooled to achieve its hardened structure.

Liquid glass hybrid reduces to solid glass

German researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology have developed a free-flowing glass-plastic hybrid material that can be formed at room temperature. Once formed, the material can be cured using light. The cured solid can be heated and compressed to remove the plastic. The remaining object is chemically and structurally identical to commercial glass.

Soft molds can be made of any object using polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The molds can then be used to shape the liquid glass. Engineers can use this process to make rapid prototypes of objects from glass. The process isn’t limited to making large objects. Scientists can also make complex objects measured in micrometers using this glass prototyping process.

The nanostructure of glass is what allows specially engineered coatings like Glassprimer™ glass paint to work. Glassprimer™ glass paint is designed to alter the nanosurface of glass, creating a permanent bond with the glass structure. As a glass coating, Glassprimer™ is highly UV-resistant, which means it won’t fade or delaminate, even in direct sunlight.

Glassprimer™ glass paint is also guaranteed to last for years when applied according to the warranty instructions. Glassprimer™ glass paint can be used safely in tough environments like kitchens and bathrooms. It’s also durable enough to be used in commercial decorating applications.

Glassprimer glass paint can be color-matched to any major paint manufacturer’s color palette, which means you can use Glassprimer™ glass paint on glass and Plexiglas™ surfaces, and be confident that it will match the latex paints on your walls and ceilings.

If you’d like more information about decorating with Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: Dave, via Flickr.com

Glass Dress A Fashion Week Hit

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Glass Dress A Fashion Week Hit

Glass Dress A Fashion Week Hit

Dion Lee, an Australian fashion designer brought a glass dress to last month’s Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Australia 2016. The dress that Lee sent down the runway wasn’t what he originally had in mind. He’d originally wanted the A-line shift to be longer, but thought that a longer dress would prove too challenging for the model. The dress, which was made from fishing line and Swarovski crystals, topped the scales at a whopping 33 pounds! Making the dress longer would also have made it heavier – possibly too heavy to wear.
How are glass crystals made?
Chances are that you’ve seen crystal, but you may not know what distinguishes crystal from glass. Ordinary glass is made from silica, lime and soda. That’s the most common basic “recipe” for glass – sometimes called soda-lime glass. Soda-lime glass accounts for about 90% of the glass that’s made today.

Crystal is similar to glass, but the “recipe” is a slight variation. Crystal – also known as “lead crystal” – is made from silica, lead oxide, soda or potash. It can also contain other elements. For better or worse, lead has long been prized for its durability, and its ability to make other things (including paint and glass) more durable. In the United States, the “crystal” label is given to glass that has a lead content of at least 1%. European standards for crystal are much higher. To earn the designation of crystal in Europe, glass must have a lead content of 10%-30%.

Crystal is used primarily for drinking glasses and decorative glass. Lead crystal is a good decorative medium because lead changes the working time and temperature of glass. Ordinary glass needs to be heated to a certain temperature, and can only be worked for a short time before it cools too much to remain pliable.

When lead oxide is added to glass, it not only lowers the temperature to which the glass must be heated, but also it extends the amount of “working time” of the molten glass. A longer working time means that designers have a longer period of time to make more intricate, more decorative glass pieces.

One effect of the longer working time of leaded crystal is that the resulting pieces are thinner than ordinary glass. Thinness comes at a price, however. Leaded crystal is more prone to breakage and surface damage. Thin doesn’t mean lightweight, though. Crystal is often heavier than similarly sized soda-lime glass, thanks to the weight of the lead inside.

If you’d like more information about decorating with glass, please check out the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: Liz West, via Flickr.com