Scientists at the University of Manchester have succeeded in creating a building material that can be used for construction on Mars. This “cosmic concrete,” called StarCrete, is made up of potato starch and salt that, when mixed with dust from Mars, forms a material twice as strong as regular concrete. It’s an efficient and viable recipe, as 55 pounds of potatoes could create half a …
Researchers have devised a robot that can liquefy and then reform—an characteristic inspired by sea cucumbers that rapidly change their stiffness. The shape-shifting invention can move between liquid and solid states by making clever use of materials. It’s composed of a metal with a low-melting point called gallium which researchers then embedded with magnets to control movement. Through the process of induction the robot melts …
The city of Boise, Idaho partnered up with ByFusion—an LA-based processor that uses steam and compression to squeeze plastic into blocks—to find a new way to reuse plastics that can’t be recycled. These blocks, dubbed ByBlocks, are the same dimensions as concrete blocks (eight by eight by 16 inches) as well as the same R-Value. Unlike concrete, however, ByBlocks are 10 pounds lighter, have Lego-like …
