

Transparent aluminium is 'new state of matter' - dlnovell
http://www.physorg.com/news167925273.html

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tjic
Totally boring / totally overhyped.

Short version: if you hit a very few atoms with an obscene amount of energy,
you blow some electrons out of their proper orbitals...and everything returns
to normal the instant you turn the laser off.

The aluminum is only transparent in the deep UV, and only transparent for as
long as you keeping dumping insane amounts of energy into it.

Big woop.

This is a typical example of scientists becoming masters of the grandiose
press release to hype something trivial into an attempt to get more grant
money.

~~~
kurtosis
hear hear, sure the physorg article sucked, but the experiment itself was
pretty good. I definitely wouldn't call either the experiment or the
conclusions "trivial". This type of experiment and the development of bright
tabletop xray sources is well worth the grant money invested. Also I think an
important point is that while the pulses used to illuminate the sample have
very high power they are only ~40 femtoseconds long so the total energy used
is pretty small.

The complaints about scientists and journalists overhyping their work to get
funding, remind me of the accusations that tv networks and producers exploit
sex and violence to boost ratings. The real problem here is that _people like
sex and violence and overhyped scientific results_

If you approach politicians and funding agencies with an honest balanced view
as to the real motivations and likely value of proposed scientific projects,
you will get kicked aside for someone who promises "star trek materials".

~~~
joshwa
+1 for nihilism!

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biohacker42
Physorg's editorial standards are not very high. I'm not sure what audience
they are aming for by combining science articles with tabloid headlines. From
this article:

 _This turned the aluminium nearly invisible to extreme ultraviolet
radiation._

From a few years ago:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium_oxynitride>

And:
[http://www.scifitv.com.au/Content/Blog/Pictures/Transparent_...](http://www.scifitv.com.au/Content/Blog/Pictures/Transparent_Aluminum.jpg)

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viraptor
Just wondering: google claims that "the speed of light * 40 femtoseconds =
11.9916983 microns".

How did they decide whether something is transparent, or not in that kind of
time / space limit?

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codeslinger
I've been reloading the page for nigh on 20 minutes now and it keeps timing
out. Just me or everyone?

~~~
codeslinger
Nevermind. downforjustmeoreveryone says its just me... Comcast strikes again.

~~~
nico
<http://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/>

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dlnovell
Once again, something from Star Trek is actually created. Hopefully
transporters will be next.

~~~
iron_ball
The Star Trek invention I want to see is a peaceful federation of all human
nations. And that invention, at least, is within the bounds of physical law,
if not human nature.

