Materials

Researchers from the University of California Berkeley have developed a device that can wring drinkable amounts of water out of even the driest air.

New MIT and Harvard research shows how versatile CRISPR is, putting the genetic scissors to work in diagnostic tools and timed drug delivery systems.

Researchers have developed a new way to weld ceramics together at room temperature, using ultrafast laser pulses.

Since electronics are always shrinking, engineers need to find ways to make smaller components too. Now, scientists from the University of Leeds have managed to make the thinnest gold ever created, measuring just two atoms thick. That makes it functionally two-dimensional, joining graphene.

A team from Stanford has shown that graphene arranged in a specific way can generate a magnetic field. That’s surprising enough, but it turns out this particular form of magnetism has previously only been theorized.

The closest thing we have to magnetic liquids are ferrofluids. But now, Berkeley Lab has managed to create the first permanently magnetic liquids, which could open up new avenues for electronics and robotics.

Graphene is incredibly thin, flexible, strong and electrically conductive, but it’s tricky to manufacture on large scales. Now researchers at the University of Rochester have recruited bacteria to make the stuff, which is cheaper and faster than current methods and doesn’t require harsh chemicals.

It's not enough to just reduce our carbon dioxide emissions now – we need to remove some of what’s already in the atmosphere. Now, researchers at KIT have developed a simple way to turn the troublesome gas into a useful resource: by converting it into the “wonder” material graphene.

​How do you stop bullets using the lightest material possible? Researchers working on this problem have developed a new type of bulletproof material comparable in performance to conventional armor, but with just half the weight. ​

The vast majority of plastic waste can’t be recycled, meaning it ends up in landfills or the ocean. To help curb the problem, researchers at Berkeley Lab have now designed a new type of plastic that can apparently be reduced right back to its molecular parts, before being remade over and over.

Traditionally, welding has been limited to materials that share similar properties. But now, scientists are claiming a breakthrough method that can weld together materials as different as glass and metal, thanks to ultrafast laser pulses.

It’s no secret that spider silk is one of nature’s most incredible materials. Now scientists have discovered a weird new ability. A team led by MIT has found that when exposed to a certain level of humidity, spider silk suddenly shrinks and twists, which could make it useful in artificial muscles.