☮ ♥ ♬ 🧑‍💻<p>“The groundbreaking <a href="https://ioc.exchange/tags/technology" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>technology</span></a> they deployed was developed in the 1970s at the Department for Glass Structure Research at the Central Institute for <a href="https://ioc.exchange/tags/Inorganic" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Inorganic</span></a> <a href="https://ioc.exchange/tags/Chemistry" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Chemistry</span></a> near Dresden. The material scientists there knew that when <a href="https://ioc.exchange/tags/glass" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>glass</span></a> breaks, it is typically due to microscopic cracks in the material’s surface which form during the production process. Dramatically increasing the toughness of the glass surface was possible, they found, by replacing the smaller <a href="https://ioc.exchange/tags/sodium" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>sodium</span></a> ions in the glass with electronically charged potassium ions. <a href="https://ioc.exchange/tags/Potassium" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Potassium</span></a> ions need more space, pressing harder against neighbouring atoms and building up more tension that needs to be overcome for the microscopic cracks to get bigger.” </p><p><a href="https://ioc.exchange/tags/Wirteglas" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Wirteglas</span></a> &lt;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/article/2024/aug/06/superfest-unbreakable-drinking-glasses-east-germany" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">theguardian.com/artanddesign/a</span><span class="invisible">rticle/2024/aug/06/superfest-unbreakable-drinking-glasses-east-germany</span></a>&gt;</p>