

How iron feels the heat - severine
http://phys.org/news/2015-02-iron.html

======
iandanforth
This is very cool, but the article failed to bring the implications back to
the macro level. My question is, what predictions does this new understanding
allow that would be testable by a blacksmith. (If any) Note: this is entirely
a personal criteria for interestingness and not a judgement on basic science,
which is assuredly valuable.

~~~
jackcarter
It probably hasn't led to any predictions yet. This seems to be a theoretical
model for empirical phenomena.

I took a course in material science once, and it's ridiculous how many
variables are involved in developing new alloys. Not only does the precise
ratio of several ingredients matter, you can get wildly different results by
heating the metal to slightly different temperatures. Even the rate at which
you cool the metal after heating matters. If we have a better understanding of
the underlying processes, maybe we can better decide what experiments are
worth trying.

