In this episode of Photonics Hot List...
Oil spills are devastating for marine life and the environment alike. And the problem can be exacerbated by chemical dispersants designed to clean up. Now, researchers led by a team at Central South University in China has discovered a nontoxic way to help.
Relying on the precise control of microactuation, researchers from the Max Planck Institute have created a synthetic system that emulates goosebumps, which could someday benefit a plethora of applications—from biomedical devices to artificial intelligence.
A team from Harvard SEAS has created a first-of-its-kind metafluid that’s versatile, highly adaptable, and its thermodynamic, optical, and rheological properties are tunable…all of which make it poised to revolutionize things like energy conversion and shock absorption.