Modern technologies—from shock absorbers and energy-efficient machinery to advanced robotics—depend on materials that can efficiently store and release mechanical energy. This essential process involves converting motion or mechanical work into elastic energy, which can later be recovered and reused. At the core of this transformation is enthalpy, a key measure of how much energy a material can absorb and release. Yet maximizing enthalpy remains a significant engineering challenge. According to Professor Peter Gumbsch of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), the difficulty lies in balancing often conflicting properties: high stiffness, high strength, and large recoverable strain.

To overcome this, Gumbsch—who also directs the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials in Freiburg—collaborated with researchers from China and the United States to develop an innovative mechanical metamaterial. These are materials with engineered internal structures that do not exist in nature, granting them extraordinary properties. The team’s starting point was deceptively simple: a round rod. They discovered a way to store large amounts of elastic energy in it without breaking or causing permanent deformation. By cleverly arranging these rods, they integrated the mechanism into a full-scale metamaterial.

In a major step forward for regenerative medicine, researchers have developed a new bioceramic material that closely mimics the micro- and nanoscale structure of natural bone. The team overcame significant technical challenges by leveraging prenucleation clusters—tiny molecular structures naturally found in bone that play a key role in guiding mineralization.

By incorporating these clusters into a transparent calcium phosphate resin, the researchers were able to replicate the intricate architecture of real bone, bringing them one step closer to creating implants that don’t just support the body but become part of it. Their groundbreaking results were recently published in Advanced Materials.

Germany is tackling its mounting plastic waste crisis head-on with an innovative approach led by the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials (IFAM). In 2023 alone, the country generated a staggering 5.6 million metric tons of plastic waste—most of it single-use packaging consumed in homes. With less than a third of that being recyclable, scientists are under pressure to find new ways to reuse this waste.

Fraunhofer IFAM has developed a cutting-edge system that converts everyday household plastic waste into high-quality filaments used for 3D printing. The breakthrough comes at a critical time as industries increasingly demand sustainable materials for manufacturing.

For millions of people around the world who have lost the ability to speak due to conditions like stroke, ALS, or traumatic brain injuries, a groundbreaking breakthrough is offering renewed hope. Scientists have developed a cutting-edge system that translates brain activity directly into speech in real time, allowing individuals with severe paralysis to communicate naturally once again.

Unlike earlier technologies that introduced awkward delays into conversation, this new “brain-to-voice neuroprosthesis” responds almost instantly to the user’s intent to speak. It processes brain signals in tiny 80-millisecond chunks, enabling fluid, real-time speech that closely mirrors natural conversation.

In a groundbreaking development that could accelerate humanity’s journey to the stars, scientists have created an ultra-thin, ultra-reflective lightsail membrane designed to ride laser beams at unprecedented speeds. This advancement may one day enable small spacecraft to travel to neighboring star systems like Alpha Centauri in just a few decades—rather than thousands of years.

Developed through a collaboration between researchers at Brown University and the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) in the Netherlands, the lightsail measures 60 millimeters on each side but is just 200 nanometers thick—thinner than a human hair. What sets this new design apart is its surface, which is patterned with billions of nanoscale holes. These features dramatically reduce the sail’s weight while enhancing its reflectivity, allowing it to better harness the pressure of light for acceleration.

Bioprinting is steadily progressing toward its ambitious goal of creating functional, transplantable tissues and organs. While researchers around the world are focused on printing hearts, cartilage, and other complex body parts, a team from Korea’s Pusan National University has made a crucial advancement in a less flashy—but medically vital—area: 3D printing adipose tissue, commonly known as fat. Their findings, published in Advanced Functional Materials, could mark a major leap forward in wound healing and skin regeneration.

Although printing fat tissue might not sound revolutionary at first glance, adipose tissue plays a critical role in the body. It’s found throughout the body as visceral fat protecting organs, in bones, and under the skin as subcutaneous fat. More importantly, fat is a major component of healthy skin and essential to the body’s natural wound-healing processes. That makes it an ideal target for bioprinting research focused on skin repair—particularly for treating severe burns.