Collaborate Disseminate
When thoughts turn to the modernization and decarbonization of our transportation infrastructure, one imagines it to be dominated by exotic materials. EV motors and wind turbine generators need magnets made …read more Continue reading Electrical Steel: The Material at Heart of the Grid
Flexible PCBs have become increasingly common in both commercial devices and DIY projects, but Panasonic’s new stretchable, clear substrate for electrical circuits called Beyolex takes things a step further. The …read more Continue reading Truly Flexible Circuits Are a Bit of a Stretch
At the end of last week Aquadom, the world’s largest cylindrical aquarium, unexpectedly shattered and caused an emergency as it flooded both the Berlin hotel that housed it and the …read more Continue reading The Physics Behind The Collapse Of a Huge Aquarium
Most of us want our 3D prints to be perfect. But at Cornell University, they’ve been experimenting with deliberately introducing defects into printed titanium. Why? Because using a post-print treatment …read more Continue reading Defective 3D Printing for Great Strength
Thought experiments can be extremely powerful; after all, pretty much everything that [Einstein] came up with was based on thought experiments. But when a thought experiment turns into a real …read more Continue reading Simple Setup Answers Complex Question on the Physics of Solids
It isn’t an uncommon science fiction trope for our hero to be in a situation where there is no technology. Maybe she’s back in the past or on a faraway …read more Continue reading Tech in Plain Sight: Primitive Engineering Materials
How cool would it be if there was a material that couldn’t be cut or drilled into? You could make the baddest bike lock, the toughest-toed work boots, or the most secure door. Really, the list of possibilities just goes on and on.
Researchers from the UK and Germany claim …read more
Continue reading Proteus, the Shape-Shifting and Possibly Non-Cuttable Material
If you were to travel back in time to the turn of the previous century and try to convince the average person that the grains of sand on just about any beach would be the basis of an industry worth hundreds of billions of dollars within 100 years, they’d probably …read more
Laser cutters are certainly a Hackerspace staple for cutting fabrics in some circles. But for the few fabrics derived from non-woven plastics, why not try fusing them together? That’s exactly what [Dries] did, and with some calibration, the result is a speedy means of seaming together two fabrics–no needles necessary! …read more
Continue reading Defocused Laser Welding Fabric Proves there’s Many Ways to Slice It
Bacteria could be genetically engineered to produce industrial quantities of biodegradable polymers based on squid teeth. Continue reading Squid Is the New Eco-Friendly Plastic, Study Says