Researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), in collaboration with Harvard University, Caltech, Sandia National Laboratories, and Oregon State University, have unveiled a groundbreaking innovation in materials science: a programmable soft material capable of bending, bouncing, and absorbing energy on demand. This new material, described in the journal Advanced Materials, could pave the way for next-generation protective gear, aerospace structures, and adaptive robotic systems.
Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and their collaborators have created a new class of programmable soft materials that can absorb impacts like never before, while also changing shape when heated.
The research—which includes collaborators from Harvard University, the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Sandia National Laboratories and Oregon State University—opens the door to smarter, lighter and more resilient materials that respond to the world around them. The research is published in the journal Advanced Materials.
Built from liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs)—rubbery polymers that shift in response to heat, light or stress—the team 3D-printed the materials into carefully engineered lattice structures. These lattices can be designed to absorb energy, stiffen, soften or even change shape, depending on their architecture and environmental conditions.
In biology, cells often respond to stress by creating protective compartments through a process known as phase separation. These compartments stabilize vulnerable proteins and can dissolve again when conditions improve. The research team applied this principle to design adaptable peptide-based materials that mimic this process—offering a simple and effective alternative to conventional methods for biomolecular stabilization, which often require complex formulations and cold-chain logistics.
Key findings from the study include:
A new study reveals that extremely simple peptides can mimic a biological process that protects sensitive proteins from environmental stress. The findings, published in Nature Materials, offer a promising new approach to stabilizing biomolecules like vaccines and therapeutic proteins—potentially without the need for refrigeration.
The interdisciplinary study demonstrates how short peptides—just three amino acids long—can undergo liquid–liquid phase separation through a drying process that enables the peptides to encapsulate proteins, protect them, and release them intact upon rehydration.
“Inspired by how organisms like tardigrades survive extreme dehydration, we asked whether we could replicate nature’s strategy using minimal synthetic materials,” said the atuhor. “To our surprise, we found that simple tripeptides could form dynamic, reversible structures that protect proteins under stress. This opens up new possibilities for protein preservation.”
A new breakthrough from the Zhang Lab at Boston University is making waves in the world of sound control.
Led by Professor Xin Zhang (ME, ECE, BME, MSE), the team has published a new paper in Scientific Reports titled “Phase gradient ultra open metamaterials for broadband acoustic silencing.”
The article marks a major advance in their long-running Acoustic Metamaterial Silencer project.
Quantum distance refers to a measure of quantum mechanical similarity between two quantum states. A quantum distance of one means that the two quantum states are the same, whereas a quantum distance of zero implies that they are exactly the opposite. Physicists introduced this concept in the realm of theoretical science a long time ago, but its importance has been increasingly recognized in the field of physics only in recent times.
In the last few years, many experimental physicists have tried to measure the quantum distance of electrons in real solid-state materials, but a direct measurement of the quantum distance and thus quantum metric tensor—a key geometric quantity in modern physics defined in terms of the distance between nearby quantum states—has remained elusive so far.
Since the quantum metric tensor is highly relevant in explaining and understanding fundamental physical phenomena in solids, it is, therefore, crucial to come up with an effective methodology for its direct measurement in solid-state systems.
Researchers have uncovered the magnetic properties and underlying mechanisms of a novel magnet using advanced optical techniques. Their study focused on an organic crystal believed to be a promising candidate for an “altermagnet”—a recently proposed third class of magnetic materials. Unlike conventional ferromagnets and antiferromagnets, altermagnets exhibit unique magnetic behavior.
“Unlike typical magnets that attract each other, altermagnets do not exhibit net magnetization, yet they can still influence the polarization of reflected light,” points out Satoshi Iguchi, associate professor at Tohoku University’s Institute for Materials Research. “This makes them difficult to study using conventional optical techniques.”
To overcome this, Iguchi and his colleagues applied a newly derived general formula for light reflection to the organic crystal, successfully clarifying its magnetic properties and origin. The work is published in the journal Physical Review Research.
A Copenhagen team has unlocked a clever “backdoor” into studying rare quantum states once thought beyond reach.
Scientists at the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, have discovered a new approach for investigating rare quantum states that occur within superconducting vortices. These states were first proposed in the 1960s, but confirming their existence has proven extremely challenging because they occur at energy levels too small for most experiments to detect directly.
This breakthrough was achieved through a mix of creative problem-solving and the advanced development of custom-made materials in the Niels Bohr Institute’s laboratories. The research findings have been published in Physical Review Letters.
