Today's technological marketplace is discovering yet another use for one of the oldest materials produced by man. The transmission of sound through glass is one of the recent discoveries made by UK firm Newlands Technology, with the application of Terfenol-D & its magnetostrictive properties. Newlands was formed as a cooperative spin-off from the Univ of Hull in 1994. During 2001, the firm reorganised its structure creating Newlands Research as a pure research arm, specialising in "smart" materials. "Smart" materials are a class of materials that are highly responsive & have the inherent capability to sense & react according to changes in the environment, in one of two ways, electrostrictively or magnetostrictively. Terfenol-D is a material that displays extreme magnetostrictive properties, expanding and contracting at high speeds, creating very strong forces.
