https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Living organisms sustain themselves through intricate metabolic processes that continuously convert energy and materials into useful functions. Inspired by these biological systems, researchers are now engineering synthetic materials that can replicate such dynamic behaviors. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-metabolism-hydrogels-replicate-heartbeat-motion.html Polymers Tue, 12 May 2026 12:20:05 EDT news697799252 Imagine a sea of glowing blue lights pulsing to the beat of the music. But instead of glow sticks filled with toxic chemicals, the luminescence comes from living algae, shimmering on demand. In a new study published in Science Advances, researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder and collaborators unveil a new technology that could make it possible. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-electricity-algae.html Biotechnology Wed, 06 May 2026 14:00:07 EDT news697275721 A new autonomous laboratory recently navigated through billions of potential material synthesis recipes to identify brighter, lead-free light-emitting nanomaterials in just 12 hours. The work could accelerate development of safer light-emitting nanoplatelets for use in applications ranging from photodetectors to the production of fuel from solar energy. A paper describing this work appears in Nature Communications. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-ai-powered-lab-brighter-free.html Nanomaterials Mon, 04 May 2026 18:20:02 EDT news697125962 Researchers at Tampere University have recently demonstrated that light can be used to precisely reshape soft materials without mechanical contact. They have developed light-responsive hydrogel thin films that enable programmable surfaces with high sensitivity, rapid response, precise spatial control and reversibility. The technology opens new possibilities for tunable devices in photonics, sensing and biomedicine. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-responsive-hydrogels-enable-fast-precise.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 29 Apr 2026 17:10:06 EDT news696696481 Natural rubber, tapped from trees as latex, is the world's most widely used bio-elastomer. Comprising long molecular chains that make it pliable and stretchy yet highly resistant to cracking and strain, natural rubber is foundational to countless products, including the heavy-duty tires in trucks, buses, and airplanes. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-natural-rubber-boosts-toughness-tenfold.html Polymers Tue, 28 Apr 2026 17:20:03 EDT news696613201 Under a microscope, a bouquet of lollipop-like structures, each smaller than a grain of sand, waves gently in a Petri dish of liquid. Suddenly, they snap together, like the jaws of a Venus flytrap, as a scientist waves a small magnet over the dish. What was previously an assemblage of tiny passive structures has transformed instantly into an active robotic gripper. The lollipop gripper is one demonstration of a new type of soft magnetic hydrogel developed by engineers at MIT and their collaborators at EPFL and the University of Cincinnati. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-swipe-magnet-microscopic-magno-bots.html Nanophysics Tue, 28 Apr 2026 11:00:03 EDT news696587647 For some time, researchers have assumed that solid materials could gain more useful properties by making their microscopic components more active. Now, a team led by Jack Binysh at the University of Amsterdam has found that this idea doesn't always hold. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-response-materials.html General Physics Sat, 25 Apr 2026 13:00:03 EDT news695900124 The possibility of life on other planets is one of the biggest mysteries in science. But what would happen if we actually found it? Our scientists are preparing for this possibility by helping to develop a new system that can analyze samples for signs of extraterrestrial life while keeping the planet safe. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-device-aims-earth-martian-microbes.html Astrobiology Mon, 20 Apr 2026 15:40:04 EDT news695904393 Scientists have long known that fungi are resilient, but a new study suggests that some strains might survive every step of the long, brutal trip to Mars. In a paper published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, researchers isolated fungal microbes from NASA cleanrooms—facilities used in the assembly, testing, and launch of spacecraft—that had persisted after decontamination. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-resilient-fungus-survive-mars-space.html Astrobiology Mon, 20 Apr 2026 09:00:01 EDT news695634361 Biological tissues have a remarkable ability to organize and change shape, driven by forces generated by their own cells. One of the major challenges in bioengineering is harnessing this natural behavior to design synthetic living materials capable of adopting predetermined shapes. However, precisely controlling how a tissue behaves and directing its internal forces to adopt the desired shape remains a significant scientific challenge. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-scientists-shifting-tissue-cells-flat.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 16 Apr 2026 14:00:05 EDT news695548261 From ketchup to quicksand, non-Newtonian fluids have long fascinated and puzzled scientists. Unlike ordinary fluids, their flow properties change depending on how much force is applied, but the precise mechanics governing this behavior remain poorly understood—particularly under rapid deformation. Now, a team led by Xiang Cheng at the University of Minnesota has used droplet impacts to probe these dynamics in new detail, uncovering behaviors which have eluded physicists so far. Their findings appear in Physical Review Letters. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-droplet-impacts-reveal-physics-thickening.html General Physics Tue, 14 Apr 2026 10:40:04 EDT news695376943 In a new Nature Physics publication, University of Amsterdam researchers introduce human-made materials that spring to life. These 'metamaterials' don't just learn to change shape, but can autonomously adapt their shape-changing strategy, perform reflex actions and move around like living systems do. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-metamaterial-chains-hinge.html General Physics Tue, 07 Apr 2026 14:20:05 EDT news694780502 Planetary surface missions currently operate cautiously. On Mars, communication delays between Earth and rovers (typically between four and 22 minutes), as well as data transfer constraints due to uplink and downlink limitations, force scientists to plan operations in advance. Rovers are designed for energy efficiency and safety, and to move slowly across hazardous terrain. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-legged-robot-resource-prospecting-moon.html Astrobiology Tue, 31 Mar 2026 00:00:01 EDT news694078201 Nucleic acids such as DNA and RNA play a central role in gene therapies and vaccines. They store and transmit biological information. In order for them to work in the body, they must enter the cells using chemical carrier systems. Researchers at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon are now proposing a new strategy for developing such systems: instead of using the same carrier material for different nucleic acids, the carrier should be individually adapted to the respective payload. This could improve the effectiveness of vaccines, for example. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-lipid-nanoparticles-custom-polymers-ai.html Bio & Medicine Thu, 26 Mar 2026 17:50:01 EDT news693763621 Self-driving laboratories (SDLs) powered by artificial intelligence (AI) are rapidly accelerating materials discovery, but can they also explain their results? Researchers from the Theory Department of the Fritz Haber Institute, in collaboration with BASF, and BasCat—UniCat BASF JointLab, show that they can. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-gray-ai-reveals-catalysts-discovery.html Analytical Chemistry Tue, 24 Mar 2026 15:40:06 EDT news693574501 A fascination with fish gills has led researchers at Cornell to develop a bio-inspired approach to mixing heat and molecules in fluids—findings that could inform future biomedical devices, heat exchangers and soft robotics. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-fish-gill-panels-reveal-path.html General Physics Tue, 24 Mar 2026 12:20:03 EDT news693570121 At a potluck, you ate the best chocolate chip cookie—golden-brown, thick and chewy. Unfortunately, you don't know who made the cookie to get the recipe from, so you decide to recreate it. Using forward design principles, you might randomly choose a recipe from dozens of options, bake and observe the resulting cookies. If they are too thin, you might start over with a new recipe, add more flour or chill the dough longer and make a new batch. An alternative method is to start from the cookie characteristics you want and ask: What recipe and baking settings will produce that type of cookie? This method is called inverse design. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-inverse-pathway-custom-functional-polymers.html Polymers Tue, 17 Mar 2026 09:00:07 EDT news692956417 Photonic chips use light to process data instead of electricity, enabling faster communication speeds and greater bandwidth. Most of that light typically stays on the chip, trapped in optical wires, and is difficult to transmit to the outside world in an efficient manner. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-photonic-efficiently-free-space.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 11 Mar 2026 14:50:01 EDT news692458354 Nature does it again! The natural world has a knack for giving us the blueprints for some useful technologies, and the humble sea urchin is the latest contributor. Scientists have designed a new class of smart sensors by mimicking the internal architecture found in their spines. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-sea-urchin-spines-powered-underwater.html Biotechnology Thu, 26 Feb 2026 12:40:01 EST news691322175 Scores of sea lions continue to beach themselves along the Southern California coastline, stricken with sickness. Toxic algae blooms are to blame, though a mechanical engineering innovation could shift the tide in favor of the marine mammals. Now, UNLV-led research published in Scientific Reports has successfully developed a synthetic California sea lion pelvic region, mimicking its bone and soft tissue. This allows medical professionals to conduct blood collection training on anatomically authentic models, improving efforts to treat the live animals. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-3d-synthetic-sea-lion-pelvis.html Biotechnology Wed, 25 Feb 2026 18:10:01 EST news691258501 Leiden physicists Daniela Kraft and Julio Melio have created soft structures that can take on different shapes without any external drive in their lab. They present their research on microscale metamaterials in Nature—a breakthrough that opens the door to smart, reconfigurable materials and microscopic robots. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-world-microscopic-scale-metamaterials.html General Physics Wed, 25 Feb 2026 17:40:01 EST news691247370 Integrating AI with advanced robotics to create self-driving labs (SDL) is a promising approach to tackling molecular discovery. A new SDL system, called LUMI-lab, combines large-scale molecular pretraining, active learning, and robotics, and has discovered that brominated lipids, not previously linked to mRNA delivery, enhance the efficiency of getting mRNA inside human cells. The study, led by researchers at the University of Toronto's Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, is published in Cell. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-ai-powered-platform-discovery-mrna.html Bio & Medicine Tue, 24 Feb 2026 18:10:01 EST news691173242 A technology has been developed that uses robots rather than humans to evaluate the performance of newly developed catalysts. By operating 45 times faster than manual work while also improving precision, it is expected to significantly shorten catalyst development timelines. A research team led by Dr. Ji Chan Park of the Clean Fuel Research Laboratory at the Korea Institute of Energy Research has developed a system that fully automates complex and repetitive catalyst performance evaluation experiments. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-automated-catalyst-robots-days-hours.html Analytical Chemistry Mon, 23 Feb 2026 17:00:01 EST news691073308 A stretchy, conductive type of plastic could help power the next generation of implantable biomedical devices, like longer-lasting pacemakers or glucose monitors, according to Enrique Gomez, professor of chemical engineering at Penn State. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-stretchy-plastics-electricity-tiny-whisker.html Bio & Medicine Mon, 23 Feb 2026 10:20:04 EST news691062601 Researchers from North Carolina State University have used laser ablation to create ultra-stretchable, superomniphobic materials without the use of harsh chemical solvents. The materials—which are useful in applications ranging from soft robotics to artificial skin patches—retain their superomniphobic (i.e., super-repellent) properties when stretched up to five times their initial length and at over 5,000 stretch cycles. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-laser-surface-repels-liquid-fivefold.html Analytical Chemistry Mon, 16 Feb 2026 16:39:21 EST news690482341 Controlled manipulation of fibers that are as thin as or even thinner than human hair is a real challenge. Despite technological development, the precise and reversible change of the microfibers' orientation is not easy. The interdisciplinary team of researchers from the Institute of Physical Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, has recently developed a way to control the shape of microfibers with electricity. This brings us closer to a novel technical solution in micromechanics and soft robotics. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-carbon-fiber-electricity-wireless-voltage.html Nanomaterials Fri, 13 Feb 2026 13:40:29 EST news690212401 A new study from an interdisciplinary German research collaboration, led by the Haptic Intelligence Department at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (MPI-IS), reveals the secret to the gentle dexterity of the elephant trunk. The 1,000 whiskers that cover an elephant's trunk have unusual material properties that highlight where contact happens along each whisker, giving elephants an amazing sense of touch that compensates for their thick skin and poor eyesight. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-elephant-trunk-whiskers-material-intelligence.html Plants & Animals Thu, 12 Feb 2026 14:00:07 EST news690089135 Traditional processes used to discover new materials are complex, time-consuming, and costly, often requiring years of sustained effort. Recent advances in large language models (LLMs) have demonstrated powerful capabilities in information processing, offering new opportunities for intelligent and autonomous materials research. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-multi-agent-ai-robots-automate.html Analytical Chemistry Sun, 01 Feb 2026 09:00:01 EST news689003989 A joint research team from NIMS and University of Tsukuba have developed an autonomous AI network technology that allows multiple autonomous AI systems to efficiently discover new materials by spontaneously collaborating with each other and forming a network. The team demonstrated the effectiveness of the technology through simulations. The research was published in npj Computational Materials on December 9, 2025. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-multiple-autonomous-ai-spontaneously-collaborate.html Analytical Chemistry Tue, 20 Jan 2026 12:27:29 EST news688134421 A low-cost, simple robotic apple picker arm developed by Washington State University researchers may someday help with fruit picking and other farm chores. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-inflatable-fabric-robotic-arm-apples.html Biotechnology Wed, 07 Jan 2026 09:25:34 EST news687000301