Nature often demonstrates extraordinary ingenuity in material design, where structure dictates function. Examples include the ...

A class of synthetic soft materials called liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) can change shape in response to heat, similar to how muscles contract and relax in response to signals from the nervous ...

Johns Hopkins researchers studied energy-absorbing capability of liquid crystal elastomers. Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert!

Harvard researchers fine-tune LCEs using 3D printing - applications range from soft robots and prosthetics to compression textiles.

Liquid-crystal molecules tend to be elongated and to orient in specific directions. Skyrmions and fractional skyrmions are promising for spintronics applications but are challenging to create ...

Inspired by the movement of insects gliding on the surface of water, University of Waterloo researchers have designed tiny robots controlled by light, offering promising possibilities for ...