Mechanical deformation as a research area investigates the response of materials to applied stresses and strains, focusing on the underlying mechanical, microstructural, and thermodynamic processes that govern elastic, plastic, viscoelastic, and viscoplastic behavior. It encompasses experimental, theoretical, and computational studies of phenomena such as dislocation motion, twinning, fracture, creep, fatigue, and strain localization across length scales from atomic to macroscopic. This field supports the development of constitutive models, structure–property relationships, and advanced characterization methods, enabling prediction and optimization of mechanical performance in metals, polymers, ceramics, composites, and biological or complex engineered materials under diverse loading and environmental conditions.
We've reported on all kinds of wacky ideas for capturing and deorbiting space debris safely. From electric tethers to lasers, engineers and scientists have been trying everything they can think of to deal with the ever-increasing ...
Space Exploration
Jul 6, 2026
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Viscosity is one of the most fundamental physical properties used to describe how materials flow. It governs the movement of liquids, molten rocks and even slowly deforming regions deep inside the Earth. While scientists ...
General Physics
Jul 6, 2026
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The shape of biological structures, ranging from flower petals to the limbs or organs of animals, is often naturally best suited for performing specific functions. Biological structures also often present curved surfaces ...
What if the mechanical properties of a cell could be programmed like the components of a machine? Researchers at the University of Tokyo have discovered that two fundamental modes of cellular deformation—stretching and bending—can ...
Bio & Medicine
Jun 29, 2026
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Over the past decade, Professor L. Mahadevan's Soft Math Lab at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) has helped establish how the ancient Japanese paper arts of folding or cutting ...
General Physics
Jun 24, 2026
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New instruments on the horizon promise the most precise tools yet to study and experiment on the smallest and most complex materials ever manufactured. In a paper published in the journal Nature Materials, University of Cincinnati ...
Nanomaterials
Jun 23, 2026
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Ask a child to draw some poo, and the shape will invariably be the same: a coil, broad at the base and pointy at the top, similar to a spiral swirl of soft-serve ice cream. In fact, the often-used poo emoji has this exact ...
General Physics
Jun 22, 2026
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Amorphous materials such as glass are solids whose internal structure lacks a repeating pattern. Their molecules are arranged in a random and irregular way. Surprisingly, these disordered materials can "remember" past mechanical ...
Condensed Matter
Jun 16, 2026
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Wearable and implantable biosensors have the potential to revolutionize health care by diagnosing, monitoring, and even treating a wide range of health conditions. Recent innovations in the lab of Wei Gao, professor of medical ...
Biotechnology
Jun 10, 2026
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When cells experience sudden physical stress, like stretching or pressure, they can activate a fast, protective mechanism that shields their nuclei from destruction, according to a new study published in the Biophysical Journal. ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jun 3, 2026
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