Researchers are turning microbes into microscopic construction crews by altering their DNA to make them produce building materials. The work could lead to more sustainable buildings.
Spider silk is strong stuff and could be used to manufacture ultra tough ropes and cables, and better sutures in medicine. If only we could find a way to make the stuff.
Much of the current research in quantum computing involves work at close to absolute zero. A simple breakthough with an everyday material could see them work at more acceptable temperatures.
You’ll be amazed how much nanotechnology is found in the average house.
Pexels/Binyamin Mellish
Silicon isn't the perfect semiconductor, it's just the one we're using. How can we ensure our electronics keep get getting faster in the face of silicon's natural physical limits?
Scientists have figured out how to make this…with graphene.
McEuen Group, Cornell University
There is much excitement about graphene, a material only a single carbon-atom thick, but finding ways to do something with it that's affordable have always been a challenge.
Before Pilkingtons invented plate glass in the mid-19th century, flat panes could not be made. Old windows are uneven. Some once thought this was because glass is a liquid that flows down slowly over the…
Shapeshifting: 3D printed materials that change shape over time.
Dan Raviv/Scientific Reports
Additive manufacturing – or 3D printing – is 30 years old this year. Today, it’s found not just in industry but in households, as the price of 3D printers has fallen below US$1,000. Knowing you can print…
A copper strip bending to the forces of pressure: knowing how and why will help build better materials.
knitsteel
Researchers in Uppsala, Sweden accidentally left a reaction running over the weekend and ended up resolving a century-old chemistry problem. Their work has led to the development of a new material, dubbed…