materials
Repairing – not recycling – is the first step to tackling e-waste from smartphones. Here’s why.
UK building road with “wonder material” graphene
2021 Nobel Prize in chemistry rewards game-changing work on molecular manipulation
The secret to how scorpions, spiders, and ants puncture tough skin
These animals to grow scalpel-sharp and precisely shaped tools that are resistant to breaking.
Say goodbye to air conditioning with new roofing material
The guilt-free air conditioning, called "cooling paper," is made from recyclable paper and doesn't use any electricity.
New crystal produced with gunpowder is stronger than diamond
Scientists created the mineral lonsdaleite in a lab and tested its strength using sound waves — before it was obliterated.
Meet the worm with a jaw of metal
Metal-like materials have been discovered in a very strange place.
Modular construction: Using Lego-like blocks to build structures of the future
Buildings don't have to be permanent — modular construction can make them modifiable and relocatable.
This programmable fiber has memories and can sense temperature
Researchers were even able store and read a 767-kilobit full-color short movie file in the fabric.
World’s blackest black? Purdue made the world’s whitest white
In paint form, the world's "whitest white" reflects so much light that surfaces become cooler than the surrounding air.
Smartly dressed: Researchers develop clothes that sense movement via touch
Measuring a person's movements and poses, smart clothes could be used for athletic training, rehabilitation, or health-monitoring.
Cornell creates the world’s tiniest self-folding origami bird
The bird demonstrates cutting-edge technology for devising self-folding nanoscale robots.
Scientists use chaos to build the optimal laser beam
Researchers find a way to distort laser light to survive a trip through disordered obstacles.
From NASA to your table: A history of food from thin air
A fairly old idea, but a really good one, is about to hit the store shelves.
Japanese researchers hope to launch a satellite made of wood in 2023
The satellite would burn instead of becoming more space debris.
Diamonds have been created at room temperature in a lab
Australian researchers figure out a new way to apply extreme pressure and squeeze out diamonds.
Chemists propose spinach as a better, cheaper battery catalyst
While it's always been a boon to Popeye's "muskles," it looks like spinach may also have a role to play in clean future batteries.
Scientists use ‘acoustic tweezers’ to move particles in Petri dishes hands-free
New prototype Petri dishes let ordinary scientists in on the advanced technology.
Scientists blow away sticky moon dust with electrons
Dust sticking to things on the moon is a serious problem researchers are trying to solve.
Why your hair dulls the sharpest razor blades
Ever wonder how soft hair can dull a steel razor? So did scientists at MIT.
Quantum particles timed as they tunnel through a solid
A clever new study definitively measures how long it takes for quantum particles to pass through a barrier.
Scientists create ‘non-cuttable’ material 85% less dense than steel
Proteus could someday be used to create extremely strong and lightweight armor and locks.
Dinosaur bone? Meteorite? These men’s wedding bands are a real break from boredom.
Manly Bands wanted to improve on mens' wedding bands. Mission accomplished.
This fruit reeks, but it may one day power your phone
Ever smell a durian fruit? Don't. Think of it as nature's stinky battery.
Graphene typically costs $200,000 per ton. Now, scientists can make it from trash.
Graphene is insanely useful, but very difficult to produce — until now.
New membrane enables us to harvest ‘osmotic’ energy from water
You've likely heard of solar energy, but what is osmotic energy?
The next clean energy source? Snow.
Researchers from UCLA invent a device that generates electricity from a rather unusual source.
Watch scientists melt a satellite part to save us from space junk
Not every part of a satellite burns up in reentry. Considering the growing number of satellites in orbital space, that's a big problem.
