University of Colorado

One of the most commonly suggested uses for tiny robots is the search for trapped survivors in disaster site rubble. The CLARI robot could be particularly good at doing so, as it can make itself skinnier to squeeze through tight horizontal gaps.

Researchers have developed a novel material using nanocrystals that converts light into a mechanical force able to lift 1,000 times its mass, opening the door for wireless, remote-controlled systems that operate without heat or electricity.

Researchers have taken another step forward in medical micro-robotics, designing a tiny sound-propelled bot with a unique design that mimics natural swimmers like bacteria. It can quickly move around the body to deliver drugs where they're needed.

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.

Scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder claim to have uncovered a greener form of cement production by tapping into a species of cloudy microalgae that naturally produce limestone particles through photosynthesis.

A new device from scientists at the University of Colorado explores the everyday potential of thermoelectric technology, demonstrating a ring that harvests energy from the human body and can even repair itself when damaged.

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 readers who live in cold climates will likely already know, winter is not kind to concrete. That could be about to change, though, thanks to a polymer additive that mimics natural antifreeze.

We've already heard about experimental self-healing concrete, that can repair cracks within itself. Now, scientists have gone a step further, utilizing bacteria to create building materials that can be grown on-site – and that regenerate when broken.

Engineers from MIT and the University of Colorado have developed a new microfabrication technique and used it to produce the smallest 3D transistors ever made, measuring about a third the size of the current leading commercial products.

Researchers at CU Boulder are working on a new material that responds to light and heat by shifting between complex, pre-programmed shapes. Not only will it allow you to cheat at peg board tests, but it also holds promise in many applications in manufacturing, robotics, and biomedicine.

Aerogels are among the best thermal insulators, but their cloudy appearance doesn't work for windows, one of the worst offenders for letting heat escape a building. Now, researchers at Colorado University Boulder have found a way to make them transparent, recycling a beer by-product in the process.