ScienceNews.org: Superglass could be new state of matter

sciencenews.org

5 points·dpurp··4 comments

"at temperatures close to absolute zero, or -273º Celsius."

Weird things are bound to happen when you remove all kinetic energy from a system.

Glass at normal temperature flows, but incredibly slowly, you can see from old window glass which is thin at the top and thicker at the bottom.

Glass at normal temperature flows, but incredibly slowly, you can see from old window glass which is thin at the top and thicker at the bottom.

Urban legend. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass#Behavior_of_antique_glass

The observation that old windows are often thicker at the bottom than at the top is often offered as supporting evidence for the view that glass flows over a matter of centuries. It is then assumed that the glass was once uniform, but has flowed to its new shape, which is a property of liquid. ... When actually installed in a window frame, the glass would be placed thicker side down both for the sake of stability and to prevent water accumulating in the lead cames at the bottom of the window. Occasionally such glass has been found thinner side down or thicker on either side of the window's edge, as would be caused by carelessness at the time of installation.

Wow. I'm usually pretty keen on the current "urban myths" and was completely unaware of this one. Thanks for the information.

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