We’ve all experienced the moment of panic when a glass slips from our hands, shattering into pieces upon hitting the ground. What if this common mishap could become a thing of the past?

Now, a new discovery by researchers at Tohoku University has offered insights into how glass resists breakage, potentially paving the way for highly durable, break-resistant materials. The breakthrough has wide ranging implications for glass-related industries.

Details of their findings are published in the journal Acta Materialia.

A new technique employing monochromatic light improves the study of internal structures in materials affected by light scattering, enabling detailed observation of particle concentrations.

When driving through a bank of fog, car headlights are only moderately helpful since the light is scattered by the water particles suspended in the air. A similar situation occurs when trying to observe the inside of a drop of milk in water or the internal structure of an opal gem with white light. In these cases, multiple light scattering effects prevent examination of the interior.

Now, a team of researchers at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) has overcome this challenge and developed a new method to study the interior of a crystalline drop.