Flexible, stretchable fire-ant rafts

What do Jell-O, toothpaste, and floating fire-ant rafts have in common? All are so-called "viscoelastic" materials, meaning that they can both resist flow under stress, like honey, and they can bounce back to their original ...

Air bubbles could be the secret to artificial skin

(Phys.org) —Using foam substrates, EPFL scientists were able to make a flexible electronic circuit board. This discovery could lead to the creation of deformable and stretchable circuits.

Scientists explain scale of Japanese tsunami

Scientists at Cambridge University have developed a model that may show why some tsunamis—including the one that devastated Japan in March 2011ar—e so much larger than expected. The Japanese tsunami baffled the world's ...

New 'soft' motor made from artificial muscles

The electrostatic motor, used more than 200 years ago by Benjamin Franklin to rotisserie a turkey, is making a comeback in a promising new design for motors that is light, soft, and operates without external electronic controllers.

Flexible paper robots

(PhysOrg.com) -- These inexpensive robots can stretch, bend and twist under control, and lift objects up to 120 times their own weight. Being soft, they can apply gentle and even pressure, and adapt to varied surfaces.

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