Auxetics defy common sense, widening when stretched and narrowing when compressed. NIST researchers have now made the process of using them much easier. Such common-sense-defying materials do exist.

When everyday materials are pulled, they stretch or elongate in the direction of the pull and become narrower in ...

If you stretch an elastic band, it becomes thinner - a physical behavior that applies to most "common" materials. Since the 20th century, an opposite behavior has been known in materials research: The ...

The risk of injury in professional sport has been a central feature in recent debates about how well protected our stars are. Only recently, Argentine football player Emanuel Ortega died of a fatal ...

As materials age, they 'remember' prior stresses and external forces, which scientists and engineers can then use to create new materials with unique properties. A new study published in Science ...

Why auxetic materials offer some unique advantages in sensor fabrication. How additive manufacturing was used with autextic materials to create unique pressure and force sensors. The structure and ...

Inspired by the humble deep-sea sponge, RMIT University engineers have developed a new material with remarkable compressive strength and stiffness that could improve architectural and product designs.

A new study by University of Chicago and University of Pennsylvania scientists shows that as materials age, they ‘remember’ prior stresses and external forces, which researchers can then use to create ...

For example, if you punch a bag full of water (like you would carry for hiking), the water within it will flow away from the point of impact. If the bag were full of an auxetic foam when you punched ...

Such common-sense-defying materials do exist. They’re called auxetics, and they have a raft of unique properties that make them well-suited for sneaker insoles, bomb-resilient buildings, car bumpers ...