Liquid crystal

Eyewear company Chamelo has delivered a world first, with sunglasses that can change colour and transparency with a single finger tap. While this may feel like style over substance, this tech has the potential to stretch far beyond fashion.

In a serendipitous discovery, engineers 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 robots jump or lift objects.

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 reusable.

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.

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.

As ubiquitous as IPS LCD screens have become, its main disadvantage so far has been a slower response time, but now LG claims to have fixed that problem. At the E3 expo this week, the company has unveiled two new gaming monitors with a zippy one-millisecond response time.

​Some people think it's funny to shine laser pointers at aircraft that are taking off or landing. Unfortunately, though, the glare of the lasers can temporarily blind pilots, potentially leading to crashes. Installed in planes' windshields, new liquid crystal technology may keep that from happening.

Scientists have developed displays that can be written on and erased with light. The WORM (Write Once Read Many) display is an optical storage device whose molecular geometry can be altered by shining light on it, allowing information to be impressed on it in as little as 20 seconds.

Researchers have developed a new class of lubricants that instead of oil, are based on liquid crystals. According to the researchers, it is the first fundamentally new lubricant developed in 20 years.

With any medical condition, the earlier it's detected, the better. When assessing biological samples from a patient, however, it's often quite difficult to see the early indicators of a disease. That could be about to change, thanks to the development of "living liquid crystal."

Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania have grown liquid crystal flowers, making it possible to create lenses as complex as the compound eye of a dragonfly. The technology could enable lenses to be grown on curved surfaces and building new materials, smart surfaces, microlens arrays, and more.

Computer monitors are big and splashy, and can reveal sensitive information or activities to bystanders. An additional layer of security (and fun) can be added to your computer's LCD display by removing your display's outer polarizing filter, and using polarizing sunglasses instead.