Materials
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Taking building tips from a glass sponge
Mechanically robust lattice inspired by nature.
This humble deep-sea glass sponge may inspire a new generation of construction. Credit: Matheus Fernandes/Harvard ...
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A novel approach to making leather
Consider stepping out in mushroom shoes.
If you love leather boots, handbags and wallets but feel iffy about their animal or synthetic sources, fungi may be t...
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Electronic skin that behaves like skin
New device mimics body’s feedback response
Researchers at Australia’s RMIT University have developed prototype electronic artificial skin that senses and reacts...
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Plug it into the wall
Chemists create ‘smart bricks’ for energy storage.
The humble house brick could one day help power electronic devices, if researchers at Washington University, US, are ...
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Sun, smarts and clean drinking water
Researchers explore potential of metal-organic frameworks.
Scientists led by Australia’s Monash University have reported another breakthrough in their efforts to develop more e...
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Tea from a different kind of silver
Sometimes you can put metal in the microwave.
Tea aficionados will tell you that you should never heat the water in a microwave, because the resulting brew just do...
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Hair v razor. Why hair wins
It’s soft but persistent, so just keeps chipping away.
Any non-bearded male will tell you that (a) shaving is monotonous and (b) razors don’t last. No matter how much they ...
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Chemists say solids don’t get brighter than this
Maintaining fluorescence means smiles all around.
These are 3D printed gyroids made from SMILES (small-molecule ionic isolation lattices), a new class of materials tha...
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Who’s the fool now?
Magnetic new role possible for a maligned material.
Fool’s gold could actually be valuable, but only if you do something that no-one (fool or otherwise) has done before....
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Attacking e-waste with ‘material microsurgery’
Innovative small-scale approach has big potential.
Australian researchers have reported early success with an innovative idea for recycling old electronic devices or e-...
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Self-heal like a squid
A new material inspired by natural protein.
US and German researchers have developed a self-healing material inspired by squid ring teeth protein. Yes, you read ...
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Is that the best you've got, angle grinder?
Engineers create a material they say can’t be cut.
Engineers claim to have created the first manufactured material that can’t be cut because it turns the force of a cut...