For Science!

[Tev]

Move over.....everything that's not cool! Welcome to the future of glass!

The liquid glass spray (technically termed “SiO2 ultra-thin layering”) consists of almost pure silicon dioxide (silica, the normal compound in glass) extracted from quartz sand. Water or ethanol is added, depending on the type of surface to be coated. There are no additives, and the nano-scale glass coating bonds to the surface because of the quantum forces involved. According to the manufacturers, liquid glass has a long-lasting antibacterial effect because microbes landing on the surface cannot divide or replicate easily.

Liquid glass was invented in Turkey and the patent is held by Nanopool, a family-owned German company. Research on the product was carried out at the Saarbrücken Institute for New Materials. Nanopool is already in negotiations in the UK with a number of companies and with the National Health Service, with a view to its widespread adoption.

....

It repels bacteria, water and dirt, and resists heat, UV light and even acids. UK project manager with Nanopool, Neil McClelland, said soon almost every product you purchase will be coated with liquid glass.

Woooo! Future!

[Yrcrazypa]

Woo super bacterium! Just watch, the enemy of the future won't be aliens, or robots, or zombies. It will be super bacterium that will instantly kill whoever touches it, feeding on the corpses.

[Osterbaum]

Can it really do all that?

Where's Sith?

[bluestarultor]

Actually, this kind of thing doesn't affect bacteria, or at least it shouldn't. You only get super-bugs by killing them with chemicals. This just keeps them from adhering to a surface.

[krogothwolf]

So we could end up creating Spider-Bugs?

[Tev]

Originally Posted by Osterbaum

Can it really do all that?

My personal favorite was this part...

The liquid glass coating is breathable, which means it can be used on plants and seeds. Trials in vineyards have found spraying vines increases their resistance to fungal diseases, while other tests have shown sprayed seeds germinate and grow faster than untreated seeds, and coated wood is not attacked by termites.

It can go on plants!

[Osterbaum]

Blues: It's still technically possible for bacteria to develop so that they could better adhere to a new type of surface. Not sure how unlikely that would be in this particular case. It's not extremely likely in general.

[Geminex]

Nice. The "Quantum effects" intrigue me... It has to do something with the “thin layer” aspect… But even assuming it was a monomolecular layer, how would quantum come into play there? I’d have assumed the weak nuclear force at most.
I’m guessing that bacteria would have difficulty surviving on it because it provides no nutrients… Though yeah, eventually we’ll get bacteria that can slip through it, should this become mainstream.
I doubt that, though. It sounds miraculous. Too good to be true. The only question I can come up with now, is “How are you supposed to get it off?”, but I’m sure there’s other downsides to coating the world around you in liquid glass.

Also, does this seem rather like something a James Bond villain would use?
“Now, Mr. Bond… See the glory of my Silicifier!”
“What… is it?”
“Just a little project of mine… It will soon coat the moon in glass, turn it into a giant lens and destroy the earth’s atmosphere… but first, it will do the same to you.”
“You’re insane!”
“I have a VISION!”
“Do you… expect me to talk?”
“No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to do a bad Han Solo impression!”

[Tev]

Originally Posted by Geminex

The only question I can come up with now, is “How are you supposed to get it off?”, but I’m sure there’s other downsides to coating the world around you in liquid glass.

I'm not sure, the article only had this to say about it's longevity:

In the home, spray-on glass would eliminate the need for scrubbing and make most cleaning products obsolete. Since it is available in both water-based and alcohol-based solutions, it can be used in the oven, in bathrooms, tiles, sinks, and almost every other surface in the home, and one spray is said to last a year.
Liquid glass spray is perhaps the most important nanotechnology product to emerge to date. It will be available in DIY stores in Britain soon, with prices starting at around £5 ($8 US). Other outlets, such as many supermarkets, may be unwilling to stock the products because they make enormous profits from cleaning products that need to be replaced regularly, and liquid glass would make virtually all of them obsolete.

[Wigmund]

So when someone falls into a vat of this stuff we'll have an nearly indestructible unholy abomination arise that coats all that it touches in glass - which then either devours its glassed victims or uses them to make more of its kind.