Collaborate Disseminate
In a serendipitous discovery, engineers at the University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder) have developed a material that first deforms and then shoots into the air when it is heated. The researchers say the material could one day be used to help soft … Continue reading New rubbery film rockets into the air like a grasshopper
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have developed a new shock-absorbing material that is super lightweight, yet offers the protection of metal. The stuff could make for helmets, armor and vehicle parts that are lighter, stronger and, importantly, … Continue reading New shock-absorbing material as strong as metal but light as foam
We love timepiece projects round these parts, so here we are with another unusual 7-segment clock design. [Moritz Sivers] wasn’t completely satisfied with his last thermochromic clock, so has gone …read more Continue reading Improved Thermochromic Clock Uses PCB Heaters For Better Contrast
If you think at all about liquid crystals, you probably think of display technology. However, researchers have worked out a way to use an ink-jet-like process to 3D print iridescent …read more Continue reading 3D Printing Liquid Crystal
In the not-too-distant future, we may see wound dressings that default to absorbing bodily fluids, while also releasing medication on demand. The same material could allow robots to cool themselves by sweating.Continue ReadingCategory: Materials, Scien… Continue reading Radio wave-activated artificial skin absorbs and releases liquids
More than 100 years after a pair of imaginative physicists first proposed a new phase of liquid crystal, scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder have managed to produce it and have been left “stunned” by its behavior. This new “ferroelectric n… Continue reading New phase of liquid crystal opens door to “new universe of materials”
Readers who survived the 1970s will no doubt remember the “mood ring” fad, where a liquid crystal mounted to a ring would magically reveal your current emotional state to all and sundry by changing color. This nifty thermochromic display is based on the same principle, and while it might not …read more
Continue reading Thermochromic Display Tells You the Temperature Despite Your Current Mood
If you were tasked with designing a color video monitor, it’s pretty clear how you’d go about it. But what if you’d been asked to do so 20 years ago? Would it have been a cut and dried from an engineering standpoint? Apparently not, as this hybrid LCD-CRT video monitor …read more
Continue reading Monochrome CRT and Liquid Crystal Shutter Team Up for Color Video
We love unique ways of displaying data here at Hackaday, and this ingenious thermochromic display created by [Moritz v. Sivers] more than fits the bill. Using sheets of color changing liquid crystals and careful temperature control of the plates they’re mounted on, he’s built a giant seven-segment display that can …read more
Continue reading The Thermochromic Display You Didn’t Know You Needed
There are a few schools of thought in the world of LCD monitors, with the battle lines mostly drawn between In-Plane Switching (IPS) and Twisted Nematic (TN) devices. As ubiquitous as IPS has become, its main disadvantage so far has been a sl… Continue reading LG unveils first 1-millisecond IPS LCD monitors for gamers