New Atlas

Materials Audio available

MIT punches out cell-sized robots made of graphene

Michael Irving October 23, 2018

MIT engineers recently managed to create cell-sized robots that could collect data about their environment, but were a little tricky to manufacture. Now, the team has found a way to mass produce these synthetic cells (syncells) through controlled fracturing of graphene.

MIT researchers have developed a technique to mass produce cell-sized robots out of graphene

Science

Next-gen watch balance springs are grown, not drawn

David Szondy October 30, 2018

Empa has developed a technique for growing tiny springs to specifications using photo-etching and electrochemical depositing in cold, aqueous saline solutions instead of conventional drawing and winding techniques.

The watch springs are electroplated on a gold plated silicon wafer, coated with a light-sensitive paint

Materials Audio available

Newly-discovered blue phosphorus could be the next 2D wonder material

Michael Irving October 16, 2018

For a few years scientists have predicted a fifth kind of phosphorus should be possible, but it had yet to be confirmed. Now, researchers in Germany have managed to show that blue phosphorus does exist, and mapped out its different properties.

In blue phosphorus, the atoms arrange themselves in a honeycomb pattern like graphene, but buckled, thanks ...

Materials

New material pulls carbon from the air for self-repair

Michael Irving October 11, 2018

It’s not enough to reduce our carbon output – we need to actively remove some from the atmosphere. On a small scale MIT engineers have developed a new material that can suck carbon out of the air and use it to get stronger or patch itself up.

The new hydrogel material (dark green) contains chloroplasts (light green) that let it absorb carbon from ...

Biology

Microbial "spacesuits" help bacteria convert CO2 to useful chemicals

Michael Irving October 1, 2018

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley have now developed “spacesuits” that wrap around bacteria to not only protect them from the elements, but turn them into biohybrids that capture carbon dioxide and turn it into useful chemicals.

A diagram of the metal organic framework (MOF) structure (left) and how it interacts with bacteria ...

Electronics Audio available

Sprayable antennas turn surfaces into ultra-thin, transparent transmitters

Michael Irving September 23, 2018

As crucial as antennas are, the rigid metals they’re made of can limit what devices they can be built into. To help with that, researchers at Drexel University have developed a new kind of antenna that can be sprayed onto just about any surface.

The sprayable antenna is made of MXene, a 2D titanium carbide material, which is extremely conductive ...

Space Audio available

"Nuclear pasta" ranked strongest material in the universe

Michael Irving September 18, 2018

Forget steel, forget diamond and even forget graphene – “nuclear pasta” may be the strongest material in the universe. This strange substance is formed in the intense pressures inside neutron stars, and researchers have now run computer simulations to test just how strong it is.

Computer simulations have found that "nuclear pasta" – strange material found inside neutron stars – may ...

Electronics

Experimental refrigeration system uses magnetic fields and shape-shifting alloys

Michael Irving September 18, 2018

Refrigerator technology hasn’t changed much in decades. Now researchers in Europe have shown promising early results with an experimental cooling system that uses magnetic fields and shape-shifting memory alloys.

The Dresden High Magnetic Field Laboratory of the HZDR, where the new magnetic cooling system was ...

Materials

Super Magnesium alloy: Lighter than aluminum and cheaper than carbon fiber

Loz Blain September 13, 2018

The creators of a new high-strength, low-weight metal alloy hope it will find a place as a midpoint between carbon fiber and lightweight aluminum in bicycle manufacture. Allite Super Magnesium is lighter and stiffer than aluminum, but not as expensive as carbon fiber.

Lightweight drone parts made from Allite Super Magnesium

Science

"Reverse filter" traps small objects but lets larger ones through

David Szondy August 27, 2018

A "straight out of science fiction" liquid membrane developed at Penn State acts as a "reverse filter" that lets large objects through while blocking small ones. The self-healing, stabilized liquid material acts counter-intuitively as the polar opposite of a conventional sieve.

Large particles pass through reverse liquid filter while smaller particles remain behind