Ever made an indie action film and needed something for that epic glass-break scene? How about the blackest black you can find? Want to adjust your boots so that they are mud repellant? Inventables has everything you need - for the budding inventor, busy set designer, or Q in training.
posted by divabat on Mar 26, 2011 - 43 comments

A team of scientists from Yale University and the up-and-coming Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology in South Korea have managed to fabricate intricate electrical contacts to produce a transistor from a benzene molecule. [more inside]
posted by Hardcore Poser on Dec 24, 2009 - 6 comments

Bikes: Steel? Aluminum? Carbon Fiber? Wood, and nothing but wood.
posted by Wolfdog on Jan 25, 2008 - 29 comments

Walking on liquids, corn starch rocking out to the beat of a subwoofer and materials that expand as they stretch are just some of the cool videos mentioned in The Stuff of Dreams (plenty more links in the last link).
posted by furtive on Jan 3, 2007 - 13 comments

The (Mostly Improbable) Materials Science and Engineering of the Star Wars Universe; The Reel Thing: One Editor’s List of Great Material Moments in the Movies; Toy Story: Materials Engineering at Play, featuring an MPEG of Fluffy the three headed dog from Harry Potter barking thanks to Nanomuscle; Things that Go Boom in the Night: The Art and Science of Fireworks; Built to Battle, Robots Test Designers’ Mettle; Fabricating the Weapons and Armor of The Lord of the Rings; and, finally, Why Did the World Trade Center Collapse? Science, Engineering, and Speculation. All articles from the surprisingly interesting JOM: The Member Journal of The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society.
posted by OmieWise on Jul 29, 2005 - 8 comments

Made from a nickel-titanium alloy, and highly processed for electrical activation and long life, the thin black thread-like BioMetal acts as an artificial muscle. When powered, the BioMetal contracts. When power turns off, the BioMetal quickly cools and the wire extends again to its longer, starting length.
posted by zanpo on Nov 24, 2004 - 11 comments

Aerogel - it holds six world records for physical properties and is nicknamed 'blue smoke' for its appearance; unsurprising since it is 99.8% air. Despite being used in the NASA Stardust and Mars Pathfinder missions, aerogels are not a recent invention and they were first prepared in 1931. It's also a great insulator - here are some wonderful photos of it in action.
posted by adrianhon on Apr 25, 2002 - 19 comments

Today at work I noticed we were running a little low on stickers, and mentioned that we didn't have enough of Mr. Yuk around. My poor, freakish coworkers had never seen or heard of the funny face from Pennsylvania. Although I seem to have doubts about how effective it is at steering young ones away from potentially deadly everyday items and other dangerous materials.
posted by salsamander on Apr 12, 2001 - 11 comments