Adding cerium oxide to phosphate glass rather than the commonly used silicate glass may make eyeglasses that block ultraviolet light and have increased radiation damage resistance while remaining colorless, according to Penn State researchers. These cerium-containing phosphate glasses have many commercial applications for use in windows, sunglasses and solar cells.

Scientists and inventors have often been inspired by the changing designs of nature. “For over a billion years,” Akhlesh Lakhtakia says, “many structures have evolved to display interesting and useful properties. This is an idea we humans should exploit.”

After 2,000 years of making and breaking glass, you might think we would have a definitive answer. But at the 3rd International Workshop on the Flow and Fracture of Advanced Glasses, held at the Penn Stater Conference Center October 2-5, fifty or so of the world's top glass scientists scratched their heads as researchers presented sharply conflicting views on the topic.

I'm dressed for the deep freeze of January in central Pennsylvania when I enter the glass-making lab. But Amy Barnes, a graduate student in the materials science department, has already fired up the "Rapid Temp Furnace" and it's just a couple of ticks shy of 1200 degrees Celsius, our melting temperature for the day. Heat radiates from the furnace. I shed my winter layers quickly.