Materials
Whether it's the latest wonder material, such as graphene, or uncovering the secrets to the longevity of ancient Roman concrete, material science is the reason so much of our technology is more than the sum of its parts.
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Who could possibly compare to Superman, the Man of Steel? Definitely not a man of plastic! Right? Wrong. Scientists have discovered that unconventionally shaped plastics may rival steel bars as reinforcement materials in construction concrete. -
If you live in a noisy urban area, you're gonna love the sound of this. Researchers in Switzerland have developed a material that can dampen street noise while being four times thinner than similar-performing absorbers used in construction. -
In what could be an industry shifting breakthrough, researchers have created a screen about the size of a human pupil with a resolution that breaks through the limits of pixels. The invention could radically change virtual reality and other applications.
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Latest News
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June 08, 2026 | Shirl LeighA research team at Chalmers University has come up with a new bio-derived material made from yeast. It can be used with 3D-printing technology to produce a construction material which can be modified specifically for the architectural field. -
June 04, 2026 | Maryna HolovnovaDemolishing old buildings generates huge amounts of waste and carbon emissions. To address this problem, Austrian scientists have developed a method that allows brick buildings to be taken apart just like a Lego set and reused in new projects. -
May 26, 2026 | Etiido UkoCement has been a vital building block in shaping civilization. However, its manufacturing process has also made it a wrecking ball on the environment. Scientists have devised a method that dramatically cuts cement’s carbon footprint via electricity. -
May 25, 2026 | Etiido UkoYou know that frustration after you gear up for a snowy day, only to take it all off in a heated office? Well, penguins don't. Come heat or cold, they just chill. Inspired, scientists have created a material that switches between heating and cooling. -
May 25, 2026 | Abhimanyu GhoshalSilk is being deployed in everything from edible food-preserving wrappers to wearable health monitoring sensors. There's plenty of scope to enhance its characteristics too, and a simple new approach has allowed it to get about as tough as Kevlar. -
May 22, 2026 | Shirl LeighA patent filed in 1985 is being dusted off as a source of inspiration for a new 3D-printed triangular-shaped zipper that seamlessly fastens chairs, tents, robots and purses, making them simpler to pack and set up just with a press of a button. -
May 12, 2026 | Maryna HolovnovaModern running shoes rely on combinations of materials for energy efficiency, but this makes them almost impossible to recycle. Researchers at the Fraunhofer group are working on a single-material design that could make full recycling possible. -
May 11, 2026 | Etiido UkoThat plastic cup you tossed into a trash can is likely going to outlive your grandchildren. Organisms die, but, left alone, plastics are near indestructible. Scientists may have changed this by creating a living self-destructing plastic. -
May 05, 2026 | Abhimanyu GhoshalBarocal is developing a class of solid materials that can absorb and transfer heat when subjected to pressure, with a high degree of efficiency and safety. Expect to see these in action in future refrigerators and air conditioning systems. -
April 12, 2026 | Michael FrancoAround the world, over two billion daily cups of coffee are consumed. That means there are a staggering amount of coffee grounds getting tossed away every day. Researchers now have a plan to turn all that waste into eco-friendly insulation. -
March 30, 2026 | Abhimanyu GhoshalSome of the world's best skis and snowboards are made from a combination of materials, including wood at the core for its strength and low weight. They're usually glued together with additional layers – but what if we stitched them together instead? -
March 23, 2026 | Etiido UkoThe race to achieve the extreme cold that quantum technologies demand may have a frontrunner. Chinese scientists have developed an alloy that almost reaches absolute zero, the coldest possible temperature, without using the scarce isotope, helium-3. -
March 20, 2026 | Ben CoxworthWhen most people think of fire-resistant materials, sawdust is probably one of the last things to come to mind. Scientists have now used it in such a substance, however, along with the plentiful mineral that kidney stones are made of. -
March 17, 2026 | Etiido UkoWhen you think of glass, you probably picture something fragile and brittle, not a material built for high-stress electromechanical components. Yet researchers are significantly improving the efficiency of electric motors by using “glass” parts! -
March 15, 2026 | Michael FrancoCould tiny threads of carbon fiber do the same job as big metal industrial heating coils? A new breakthrough from researchers at Rice University says yes, and the finding could go a long way toward electrifying many manufacturing processes.
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