Materialism: A Materials Science Podcast

We have all seen the heat of atmospheric reentry depicted a thousand times in movies and TV shows, but how do we actually protect spacecraft from that danger? Taylor and Andrew sit down with Nate Olson, an aerospace engineer at NASA's Johnson Space Center, to explore the history of thermal protection systems. Nate unpacks the science of surviving atmospheric entry from the simple blunt-body design that made reentry physically possible, to the ~300,000 honeycomb cells hand-caulked with Avcoat on Apollo. We also touch on modern events like the Artemis I heat-shield anomaly and where he believes the technology could be headed. This episode was sponsored by Expert Lab Services. Learn more about their services on their website [LINK] The Materialism Podcast is sponsored by Materials Today, an Elsevier community dedicated to the creation and sharing of materials science knowledge and experience through their peer-reviewed journals, academic conferences, educational webinars, and more. [LINK] Thanks to Kolobyte and Alphabot for letting us use their music in the show! If you have questions or feedback please send us emails at [email protected] or connect with us on social media: Instagram, Twitter. Materialism Team: Taylor Sparks, Andrew Falkowski, & Jared Duffy.

From glowing plastic stars on bedroom ceilings to quirky novelty items, most of us have encountered the magic of things that shine in the dark but what’s really behind the glow? Andrew and Taylor dive into the science of photoluminescence, breaking down the physics of how it works and the materials that make it possible. Join them as they explore the two main glow-in-the-dark methods—phosphorescence and fluorescence—and reveal what makes each one shine. This episode of the Materialism Podcast is sponsored by the American Ceramics Society. Check out the ACerS learning center with over 20+ On-Demand Courses on topics such as the fundamentals, research, manufacturing, and more. Visit them, at this link [HERE] for $100 off your next On-Demand course registration with the ACerS Learning Center. The Materialism Podcast is sponsored by Materials Today, an Elsevier community dedicated to the creation and sharing of materials science knowledge and experience through their peer-reviewed journals, academic conferences, educational webinars, and more Thanks to Kolobyte and Alphabot for letting us use their music in the show! If you have questions or feedback please send us emails at [email protected] or connect with us on social media: Instagram, Twitter. Materialism Team: Taylor Sparks, Andrew Falkowski, & Jared Duffy.

Few things in materials science are more interesting and rewarding than discovering new materials. In this episode, Taylor and Andrew sit down with Paul Canfield, a physicist from Ames Laboratory to discuss materials discovery—and the creative ways he writes about it. From cooking metaphors to "shaving the dice" to beat nature, they dive into the colorful word choice he uses to bring his work to life.. This episode of the Materialism Podcast is sponsored by the American Ceramics Society. Check out the ACerS learning center with over 20+ On-Demand Courses on topics such as the fundamentals, research, manufacturing, and more. Visit them, at this link [HERE] for $100 off your next On-Demand course registration with the ACerS Learning Center or use code MATERIALISM. The Materialism Podcast is sponsored by Materials Today, an Elsevier community dedicated to the creation and sharing of materials science knowledge and experience through their peer-reviewed journals, academic conferences, educational webinars, and more Thanks to Kolobyte and Alphabot for letting us use their music in the show! If you have questions or feedback please send us emails at [email protected] or connect with us on social media: Instagram, Twitter. Materialism Team: Taylor Sparks, Andrew Falkowski, & Jared Duffy.

Have you ever read a published paper and wished you had access to the raw data? The journal Integrating Materials and Manufacturing Innovation (IMMI) seeks to solve that issue. Taylor, the current Editor-in-Chief, sits down with Chuck Ward( Previously Chief of Manufacturing and Industrial Technologies at AFRL and outgoing Editor-in-Chief at IMMI) to discuss how IMMI is different from other journals. They cover the history of IMMI, the use cases of the journal, and also some exciting news about Taylor and his position with the journal. This Materialism Podcast is sponsored by Materials Today, an Elsevier community dedicated to the creation and sharing of materials science knowledge and experience through their peer-reviewed journals, academic conferences, educational webinars, and more You can find out more about IMMI by clicking here. Thanks to Kolobyte and Alphabot for letting us use their music in the show! If you have questions or feedback please send us emails at [email protected] or connect with us on social media: Instagram, Twitter. Materialism Team: Taylor Sparks, Andrew Falkowski, & Jared Duffy. Keywords: Manufacturing Publishing Scientific Journals

From antelope skin chains to full beryllium frames its safe to say bikes and the materials that make them have a fascinating history. Join us as we celebrate episode 100 and dive into the materials science behind this beloved mode of transportation. Starting at the invention of the first bike due to a massive volcanic eruption to the specialty bikes more expensive than a car. We break down the materials of the past that have been used to make bikes, such as wood, steel, aluminum, and even bamboo. As well as examining the materials propelling biking into the future such as titanium, carbon fiber, and more, discussing their strengths, weaknesses, and the performance considerations that influence design choices. This Materialism Podcast is sponsored by Materials Today, an Elsevier community dedicated to the creation and sharing of materials science knowledge and experience through their peer-reviewed journals, academic conferences, educational webinars, and more Thanks to Kolobyte and Alphabot for letting us use their music in the show! If you have questions or feedback please send us emails at [email protected] or connect with us on social media: Instagram, Twitter. Materialism Team: Taylor Sparks, Andrew Falkowski, & Jared Duffy. Keywords: Titanium Alloy Carbon Fiber Bicycles Steel Aluminum Frame BMX

What brings a social media company into materials science? In this episode, we talk with Larry Zitnick of Meta's Fundamental AI Research (FAIR) and Aaike van Vught from VSParticle about building OCx24, an open catalysis materials database. We discuss the challenges of creating an experimental database from scratch and how autonomous spark ablation devices made it possible. We cap things off with a discussion about how machine learning tools can leverage this database to help us discover new catalysts. This episode of the Materialism Podcast is sponsored by Meta's Fundamental AI Research You can find more info about this project below: Blog post: https://ai.meta.com/blog/open-catalyst-simulations-experiments/ Paper: https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.11783 Dataset: https://fair-chem.github.io/core/datasets/ocx24.html This Materialism Podcast is sponsored by Materials Today, an Elsevier community dedicated to the creation and sharing of materials science knowledge and experience through their peer-reviewed journals, academic conferences, educational webinars, and more Thanks to Kolobyte and Alphabot for letting us use their music in the show! If you have questions or feedback please send us emails at [email protected] or connect with us on social media: Instagram, Twitter. Materialism Team: Taylor Sparks , Andrew Falkowski , & Jared Duffy .

At temperatures hotter than the surface of the sun (>20,000K), a revolutionary physics-based process is creating the future of nanomaterials - no chemicals required. We talk to Aaike van Vugt co-founder of VSParticle and an expert in the field of spark ablation. He walks us through the process of coating materials in nanoparticles as well as its various uses. We explore what materials are suitable for the method and their pivot into nanoporous films. The Materialism Podcast is sponsored by American Elements, a leading manufacturer and supplier of materials. You can learn more about their work and services by visiting their website. This episode was sponsored by VSParticle. Be sure to check out their website to see how you can leverage their technology. More info about them can be found here. This Materialism Podcast is sponsored by Materials Today, an Elsevier community dedicated to the creation and sharing of materials science knowledge and experience through their peer-reviewed journals, academic conferences, educational webinars, and more Thanks to Kolobyte and Alphabot for letting us use their music in the show! If you have questions or feedback please send us emails at [email protected] or connect with us on social media: Instagram, Twitter. Keywords: Nanofilms Nanomaterials