
Colourful material made from wood could help keep buildings cool
26 March 2023
A material made from two forms of cellulose, which is found in wood, reflects heat and can be made in a variety of colours

26 March 2023
A material made from two forms of cellulose, which is found in wood, reflects heat and can be made in a variety of colours

16 March 2023
A transparent material made from cellulose nanofibres and pockets of gas could replace air in double-glazed windows to improve thermal insulation

4 November 2022
A device that uses a piece of glass with little bumps on it can distinguish objects based on how they scatter light, removing the need for a camera or a computer

2 August 2022
An obsolete photographic technique that won a Nobel prize over a century ago has been resurrected to create a novel material that changes colour when stretched

1 August 2022
A stretchy material developed for holograms and an obsolete photography technique from the 19th century have been combined to create a material that changes colour as its tension changes

4 March 2022
Nanometre-sized semiconductors extracted from mulberry leaves make silkworms and their silk emit a strong red glow

3 March 2022
A metamaterial inspired by kirigami, the Japanese art of paper cutting, can support nearly 3000 times its own weight

1 March 2022
A chequerboard pattern based on kirigami, the Japanese art of paper cutting, enables thin and light structures to support much heavier loads

16 December 2021
Radiative cooling means ordinary windows aren't very effective at keeping buildings warm or cool as required, but modified windows could help save energy

22 November 2021
A material made with layers that have different tensions wrinkles when heated, which can be used to reflect light such that an object matches its surroundings