The Wonders of Glass | Science of Glass in the Glass Age | Corning

Imagine walking into an elevator in Las Vegas and seeing a full-size, vibrant image of the Sydney skyline. Tough, durable glass is now opening up new possibilities for elevator, lobby, and conference room interiors. In a space where weight is critical, this extremely thin and lightweight glass provides building owners and architects with a damage-resistant surface and an elegant, modern look for elevator interiors. The optical clarity of the glass allows designers to match “true colors” and bring interior walls to life with bright, vibrant colors or images of places, scenes, or skylines. Learn more about how glass is elevating interior design to the next level.

Glass has helped transform peoples’ lives in tremendous ways. Glass has been part of penicillin production and the polio vaccine. One application of glass is for labware used to help discover new life-saving medicines. Glass products played an important role in enabling the mass commercialization of penicillin during World War II and were also used in the development, manufacture, and distribution of the polio vaccine in the 1950s. Not only has glass helped transform the healthcare industry, but the way glass can be controlled and transformed allows it to create new industries and enable life-changing innovations.

New developments in glass are making it ultra-slim, durable, and yes — flexible. Special glass compositions can roll up like a sheet of paper or flex like wire. These capabilities bring strength and flexibility together in a whole new way, creating exciting new opportunities for glass, and proving that while glass can bend, its versatility enables a range of applications.

New innovations in printing on glass are opening up endless options for decoration and design. The optical purity of the glass optimizes the bright, vibrant colors of imagery, while the durability of the glass creates a remarkably tough, thin, and lightweight form-factor. These combined attributes give designers and architects the opportunity to create a new design aesthetic with glass.

While many think that glass is a brittle material, it is extremely tough and durable. In fact, by manipulating the structure of the glass, it becomes tough enough to withstand the impact of a baseball thrown at more than 60 mph. Glass is also tough enough for windows on the space shuttle entering the atmosphere at 25,000 km per hour, or for withstanding hurricane-force winds and severe hail storms.

Glass has exceptional thermal and dimensional stability. Some glass compositions can be exposed to various temperature variations and still maintain its composition or shape. This stability allows glass to endure over time. For example, many have heard that the glass windows in medieval churches are slightly thicker at the bottom than at the top. However, glass scientists have calculated that it would require 20 trillion times the age of the Earth to create a visible change in the thickness of a glass window.

One glass composition can be completely different from the next. In fact, a single element added to glass can significantly change its properties. By manipulating glass compositions, scientists have developed glass that is light, flexible, durable, and even scratch-resistant. Adding different surface technologies to glass enables it to resist bacteria, stains, glaring reflections, and even smudges. The adaptability of glass makes it an ideal candidate for enabling touch screens, high resolution displays, and optical fiber.

No material inspires more creativity. Scientists and artists alike have revered glass for the way it handles light and color, changes shape and take on new forms, while maintaining stability and strength. Artists, architects, engineers, and designers are turning to glass for its stunning characteristics.