Wearing octopus camouflage
Nature reports on materials engineers stealing the secrets of octopus skin to create substances that can change color and texture on demand: Very small sub-micrometre […]
materials engineering
Hold fire in this house bubble wrap
Gizmodo had a piece on a new heat-insulating film that’s so efficient, you can hold open flames in your hands and not be burned: Physicists […]
Ultrablack dress made from bird-feather tech.
Nature Communications has research from Cornell ornithologists and material engineers who created a new blacker-than-black dress that’s breathable and stretchable, because it’s made from natural […]
Using egg whites to scoop up microplastics.
Phys.org reports on Princeton Engineering researchers who have found a way to turn egg whites into an aerogel that can then be used to filter […]
It’s possible to recycle concrete, and this Swiss bridge proves it.
Popular Science takes us over a bridge built inside a Fribourg, Switzerland, laboratory entirely out of re-used concrete – a thrifty construction technique that could […]
A square meter of concrete can store the electricity of two AA batteries.
Scientific American looks at a weird new power source, using probably the most common building material in the modern world as a kind of rechargeable […]
The mystery of sand.
XKCD’s Randall Munroe, writing now for The New York Times, explores a scientific mystery more baffling than quantum physics – what makes sand feel softer […]
New superconductor has zero resistance at room temperature. With one catch….
New Scientist reports on a new material that conducts electricity with no resistance whatsoever at room temperature – something electronics and electrical engineers have been […]
Living concrete photosynthesizes, reproduces itself – thanks to gelatin..
The New York Times covers a building material that could be a boon to the planet, a bacteria-enriched concrete that cleans the air and grows […]
“Diamond-based security” low-tech foil for high-tech counterfeiters
Fortune reports on a new company that aims to keep supply chains secure in the era of 3D printing by using unique patterns of diamond […]