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| ARTIFICIAL ISLAND ARISES OFF DUBAI |
| The rapidly changing face of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates is portrayed by contrasting Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images taken less than four years apart, most notably as a whole new artificial island is seen to rise from the seabed. |
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| LEAF SECRET INSPIRES SELF-CLEANING PAINT |
| A self-cleaning paint inspired by lotus leaves is being developed by Australian researchers.
A paint compound, which is currently being tested by its developers at the Centre for Advanced Materials Technology at the University of Sydney is designed to prevent dirt from sticking to its surface. |
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| NEW LIGHTWEIGHT MATERIALS MAY YIELD SAFER BUILDINGS, LONGER-LASTING TIRES |
| Researchers say they have developed the world's strongest, lightest solids. Called aerogels, the sturdy materials are a high-tech amalgam of highly porous glass and plastic that is as light as air. |
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| AUSSIE BIO-CEMENT TO SAVE DUTCH DYKES |
| An Australian researcher is using bacteria to develop a biological cement that may help patch up failing Dutch dykes, essential in protecting the land from rising sea levels.
Vicky Whiffin of Murdoch University has been experimenting with bacteria which convert sand into sandstone, as part of her PhD research. |
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| STRONTIUM TITANATE - A DEFORMABLE CERAMIC |
| Materials scientists at the Max-Planck-Institut fur Metallforschung, Stuttgart have achieved significant plastic deformation in strontium titanate (SrTiO3), an oxide ceramic material hitherto believed to be extremely fragile and brittle at room temperature. These results will change some of the concepts with which ceramic materials are treated as engineering materials today. |
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| INTERNATIONAL AWARD FOR CONCRETE FROM WASTE |
| An Australian scientist has won the concrete world's most prestigious award for his work in turning industrial waste into a useful component of concrete for building and construction. |
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Building Construction
