SpaceX Warns $4 Million Daily Loss If Starship Launches Are Halted Due to Lawsuit 
Urgent Alert: New COVID Variant Causes Alarming Symptoms—You Must Know This! 
SpaceX Shares Breathtaking Images of Starship Flight 5 Featuring Reentry and Stage Separation 
Just 21 Minutes of Cycling a Day Is 'All You Need' for Total Health, Claims Expert 
FAA Clears SpaceX Falcon 9 for Launches After Resolving Starlink and NASA Mission Mishaps 
CDC Urges Second COVID-19 Vaccine for Seniors: ‘Protect Your Health This Season!’ Experts Say It’s Critical 
SpaceX Activates Starlink Texting for T-Mobile in Florida as Hurricane Milton Approaches 
NASA is launching a major mission to look for habitable spots on Jupiter’s moon Europa 
Blue Origin Prepares to Test New Glenn Rocket, Set to Rival SpaceX's Falcon Rockets 
Nicotine Pouches Skyrocket in Popularity as Youth Tobacco Use Hits 25-Year Low — ‘This Is the New Trend,’ Experts Warn 
SpaceX’s $2.9 Billion Moon Ship Reveals Spacious Design for Future Lunar Missions 
Why does everything look flat even though the Earth is round? 
SpaceX Sues California Coastal Commission, Alleging Political Bias Over Falcon 9 Launch Denials 
Astronomers just found complex carbon molecules in space – a step closer to deciphering the origins of life 
Elon Musk Surprised by SpaceX’s Successful First Attempt at Catching Starship Booster 
South Africa amended its research guidelines to allow for heritable human genome editing 
Aluminum has long been a favorite material of manufacturers to work with because of its abundance, low price, and ease of handling when it’s molded into different shapes. However, a huge concern about the metal is that it is incredibly soft and easily gives in to pressure. Thanks to the work of researchers, however, aluminum might soon be as tough as stainless steel.
The new development was courtesy of researchers from the School of Materials Engineering at Purdue University. According to the paper they published, making the lightweight metal as strong as stainless steel was all about altering the microstructure of the material. This is easier said than done, of course, but the researchers accomplished it with professor Xinghang Zhang at the head of the team.
"Most lightweight aluminum alloys are soft and have inherently low mechanical strength, which hinders more widespread industrial application," Zhang said. "However, high-strength, lightweight aluminum alloys with strength comparable to stainless steels would revolutionize the automobile and aerospace industries."
Without getting too technical regarding the details, the researchers basically introduced what’s called “stacking faults” into the material. These are distortions in the crystal, which have proven notoriously difficult to do with aluminum. The metal simply had too high of a “stacking fault energy.”
As counterproductive as introducing flaws into the material might sound, this actually makes the metal stronger and more ductile. A stacking fault type called the 9R phase is of particular interest to the researchers because of its potential, Phys.org reports.
"It has been shown that twin boundaries are difficult to be introduced into aluminum. The formation of the 9R phase in aluminum is even more difficult because of its high stacking fault energy," Zhang explained with regards to the material. "You want to introduce both nanotwins and 9R phase in nanograined aluminum to increase strength and ductility and improve thermal stability."
