Tech
Backyard leafhoppers inspire next-generation cloaking tech
Engineers are borrowing this insect’s trick, an "invisibility cloak" of anti-reflective spheres. It could lead to new clean energy tech or military gear.
Materials Science
More Stories in Materials Science
- Animals
Intricate silk helps net-casting spiders trap prey in webs
Rufous net-casting spiders can adjust the stiffness and stretchiness of their webs thanks to looping strands of silk.
- Tech
New light-activated coating can kill stubborn germs
Based on graphene, this new material can knock out hard-to-kill germs on contact — even in your mouth.
- Chemistry
Explainer: What is chirality?
Chiral molecules are mirror images of each other. They might not seem all that different — but can have drastically different effects in medicine, materials and more.
- Materials Science
‘Stenciling’ tiny gold particles gives them new properties
Decorating nanoparticles with other chemicals could give them useful properties for medicines, textiles and more.
- Fossils
Here’s why ammolite gems have a rainbow shimmer
The fossils’ fabulous colors arise from delicate assemblies of crystal plates.
- Chemistry
Scientists finally know why ice is so slippery
It’s not because ice heats up and then partially melts. Rather, ice changes at the molecular level — a process scientists have finally modeled.
- Materials Science
Scientists Say: Tenebrescence
Under ultraviolet light, some minerals adopt long-lasting new hues.
- Tech
Origami folds let paper support 9,000 times its weight, teen finds
Miles Wu, 14, tested the strength of different ‘Miura-Ori’ origami folds and showed they might be useful in the design of pop-up emergency shelters.
- Tech
A modified glue gun squirts a material to help heal broken bones
The handheld printer might someday apply bone-repair patches directly onto fractures — complete with antibiotics to prevent infection.
