Engineers at Caltech and ETH Zurich have created a swimming robot that’s powered by material deformation. That means that it’s made using materials that change shape in response to temperature swings, and that deformation pushes the device through water.
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As useful as it is, plastic isn’t the most environmentally-friendly material. To try to wean us off it, chemists at Colorado State University have now developed a polymer that apparently has all the benefits, but can be easily broken down and recycled over and over.
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Caffeine may be a “catalyst” that turns us from sleepy zombies into functioning members of society, but now that may be more literal. Scientists have used caffeine to replace the metal catalysts normally used in creating polymer materials, opening the door for drug delivery via chewable gels.
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Researchers have developed a new polymer film that’s transparent, looks and feels like glass, and conducts electricity. The material is easy to manufacture on a large scale, should be less expensive than the commonly-used, inorganic indium tin oxide, and is more conductive than other polymers.
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Researchers have produced a new synthetic molecule that can target and kill five multidrug-resistant bacteria. This synthetic polymer was found to be non-toxic and could enable an entirely new classes of therapeutics to address the growing problem of antibiotic-resistant superbugs.
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Now you can have your wonder material and eat it, too. The lab of James Tour at Rice University has demonstrated a way to etch graphene onto food like bread and potatoes, as well as materials like cardboard and cloth, where it could then act as an RFID tag.
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Harvard engineers have demonstrated a new 3D printing technique called “rotational 3D printing,” which lets users arrange the fibers in the ink in different orientations at different parts of the printed object, boosting its strength, stiffness and resistance to damage.
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Overpacking isn't exactly an option for trips into space, even for longer trips like an eventual manned mission to Mars. Now, researchers are recruiting microorganisms to solve the problem, by engineering them to make nutrients and 3D-printable plastics out of human waste.
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Industrial activity like coal-burning and mining has greatly increased the amount of mercury in our environment. Scientists have now developed a low-cost polymer that can soak up mercury in its most harmful forms, raising the prospect of a cheap and sustainable way to clean up the mess.
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Scientists have created what they claim is "the world’s first machine to convert light directly into walking." It actually undulates more than walks, and could ultimately be used for applications such as the transportation of small objects within inaccessible spaces.
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