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Shape memory alloy is an alloy that “remembers” its original, cold-forged shape: returning the pre-deformed shape by heating. This material is a lightweight, solid-state alternative to conventional actuators such as hydraulic, pneumatic, and motor-based systems.

A shape memory spring, for example, can be pulled and twisted out of shape, and will almost instantly reform to its original shape when heated. The process can be repeated “over a million times,” According to Dr. Alan Taub, Vice President of GM’s Global Research & Development.

According to Dr. Taub, shape memory alloy will replace expensive motors, hydraulics, and pneumatic systems for simple processes, such as opening and closing louvers on a radiator or deploying a rear spoiler.

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Mix vegetable oil with urea and what do you get? Self-healing rubber.

Scientists in Paris created a rubber that can be torn in half and reattached at room temperature, simply by placing the ends together. After 15 minutes, the rubber can be stretched to twice its normal length without breaking.

The self-healing rubber was made in the lab of Ludwik Leibler, at the Industrial Physics and Chemistry Higher Educational Institution in Paris. Leibler and his colleagues built up their rubber from simple starting materials — fatty acids and urea (that’s vegetable oil and a component of urine). Their research was published in Nature.

Unlike normal rubber, which utilizes a long chain of molecules covalently bonded, Leibler’s approach was to use small molecular groups: the fatty acids from vegetable oil. Reacting these molecules with urea in a two-step process stu

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Looking for a sponge for that special someone? Look no further. This diamond aerogel sparkles like its gem cousin, but with 90% air. Popular Science recently wrote up a nice article on the innovation.

Aerogel is a manufactured material with the lowest bulk density of any known porous solid. It is derived from a gel in which the liquid component of the gel has been replaced with a gas. The result is an extremely low-density solid, with a notable effectiveness as a thermal insulator. It is nicknamed frozen smoke, solid smoke, solid air or blue smoke due to its translucent nature and the way light scatters in the material; however, it feels like expanded polystyrene (styrofoam) to the touch. —Wikipedia

Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory successfully manufactured diamond aerogel. To make a diamond aerogel, Peter J. Pauzauskie and colleagues at Lawrence Livermore Na

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A 2.5 kg brick is supported by a piece of aerogel weighing only 2 grams. Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech.