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Scientists have developed a multipurpose fiber that changes its stiffness depending on temperature, making for a highly versatile wire that could one day be used in everything from folding drones to shapeshifting furniture.​​

Boeing has been awarded a patent for a tilt rotor VTOL aircraft capable of carrying up to 100 passengers. By combining vertical lift of a helicopter with the speed and range of a conventional airplane, it could one day turn small airports into passenger hubs.

Scientists and engineers from the University of Washington are working on a way to provide prosthetic users and those suffering from spinal cord injuries with the ability to both feel and control their limbs or robotic replacements by means of directly stimulating the cortex of the brain.

Camping hammocks and suspended tents allow intrepid campers to sleep in style above the cold, hard ground. But even popular designs can be improved on, something the team at Nube has tried to do with its Stratos, an update on its original design.

While it's unlikely that George Lucas will appreciate the irony, it seems fitting that a museum of storytelling should have such complex plot twists. Indeed, the troubled saga of the building of his Lucas Museum of Narrative Art is now on episodes three and four.

Until activated by motion​, the Lumes wall panel from Australia's ENESS looks pretty standard. But once brought to life, an integrated LED array can display images and relatively complex animations. The first real-world application of the Lumes panel is at Cabrini Hospital in Malvern, Victoria.

Some ideas are ahead of their time, some might have to wait an eternity. We're not entirely sure which camp the following fearless forays into the realm of invention fit into, but they definitely get our nod for being among the quirkiest gadgets of 2016.

Researchers say they have discovered the secrets behind remarkably tough deer antlers, attributing the robustness to a staggered arrangement of nanoscale fibers, something that could lead to similarly "unbreakable" materials down the track. ​

​The 3D-printed Hybrid Slide Guitar from Florida-based MONAD Studio is a twin-horned beauty designed to form part of a sonic wall installation that serves as both a visual backdrop for musicians and an instrument rack.

Looking back over the year, 2016 seen a whole lot of weird and wonderful developments in the motorcycle world. Well, some of them just weird. Here are our favorite bikes from around the world that pushed the envelope in 2016.

Chrysler has completed the production of 100 Pacifica Hybrid minivans built specifically for self-driving use by Waymo. The news is the first of note to come out of Waymo since it was spun-out from being Google's autonomous car project, with the vehicles to be used for self-driving testing.​

While many people are taking it easy for the holiday season, ESA is gearing up for a very busy New Year. On January 19, the space agency will begin a complicated year-long maneuver to radically alter the orbit of the Trace Gas Orbiter around Mars using the Red Planet's atmosphere as a giant brake.​