Rice becomes weaker when compressed quickly, while staying stronger under slow pressure—a discovery enabling scientists to ...

Researchers at UC Santa Barbara and TU Dresden are blurring the lines between robotics and materials, with a proof-of-concept material-like collective of robots with behaviors inspired by biology. Of ...

Despite the prevalence of synthetic materials across different industries and scientific fields, most are developed to serve a limited set of functions. To address this inflexibility, researchers at ...

The researchers turned to hydrogels, which are water-rich, jelly-like polymers that respond to temperature and chemicals. But instead of layering different materials or embedding electronics, they ...

Smart soft materials have one or more characteristics that can be significantly altered in convertible fashions by external stimuli, such as light, moisture, mechanical force, temperature, ...

This octopus-inspired smart skin can change shape and reveal hidden secrets on command.

The field of regenerative medicine is entering an era of unprecedented convergence, bringing together intelligent biomaterials, biomedical hydrogels, and ...

Adaptive materials can play a central role in net-zero building, offering a solution that's not only smart but sustainable from production to end-of-life.

Researchers are blurring the lines between robotics and materials, with a proof-of-concept material-like collective of robots with behaviors inspired by biology. Researchers at UC Santa Barbara and TU ...