From the smooth tubes of our arteries and veins to the textured pockets of our internal organs, our bodies are made of tissues arranged in complex shapes that aid in performing specific functions.

From the smooth tubes of our arteries and veins to the textured pockets of our internal organs, our bodies are made of tissues arranged in complex shapes that aid in performing specific functions. But ...

Scientists have created a liquid crystal elastomer that can be molded into shapes that shift from one to another when heated. The material is intended for biomedical and robotics applications. Rice ...

Liquid-crystal elastomers—which contain heat-responsive liquid-crystal molecules embedded in a stretchy polymer—could one day be used to make soft robots and biomedical devices. Typically, researchers ...

A new method for shaping matter into complex shapes, with the use of ‘twisted’ light, has been demonstrated in research at the University of Strathclyde. When atoms are cooled to temperatures close to ...

Rice University scientists have created a rubbery, shape-shifting material that morphs from one sophisticated form to another on demand. The shapes programmed into a polymer by materials scientist ...