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The World’s Fastest Swimming Robot

mechanical and aerospace engineering

Stock image of a colorful and dynamic textile.

Nov 14, 2025

Research Round Up: Responsive Materials 

NC State University leads the development of responsive materials engineered to sense and react to stimuli in exciting, innovative ways. Remarkably versatile, these advanced materials can harvest energy from friction, self-repair structural damage, assemble themselves into electronic devices — and more. 

Nov 6, 2025

Study: Composite Metal Foam Could Lead to Safer Hazmat Transportation

Composite metal foam can withstand tremendous force – enough to punch a hole in a railroad tank car – at much lower weight than solid steel. 
diagram shows how a metabot can fold itself from a two-dimensional sheet into various multi-dimensional structures

Oct 15, 2025

‘Metabots’ Shapeshift From Flat Sheets Into Hundreds of Structures

The metabots resemble animated sheets of plastic, capable of moving around a surface or grasping objects. 
A step-by-step diagram shows how a two-dimensional sheet can be cut and folded to create a three-dimensional shape that resembles a Chinese lantern

Oct 10, 2025

‘Chinese Lantern’ Structure Shifts Into More Than a Dozen Shapes for Various Applications

The rapid shape-shifting behavior of the structures can be controlled remotely using a magnetic field. 
A person holds two small blocks of steel metal foam.

Oct 7, 2025

Some Like It Hot: Composite Metal Foam Proves Resilient Against High Stresses at High Temperatures

Coupled with the material’s high strength-to-weight ratio, the finding suggests that CMF could be used in applications ranging from automobile engines to aerospace components to nuclear power technologies. 
A police officer and detective lift the caution tape to enter the crime scene of a killing.

Sep 30, 2025

Understanding Bloodstain Patterns Better

New research findings could help forensic analysts more accurately determine how fast blood was traveling when it hits cotton fabric. 
satellite image shows the night side of earth, with cities lit up by electric light

Aug 8, 2025

New Physical Model Aims to Boost Energy Storage Research

The new model can be incorporated into computational tools to help design better batteries and capacitors. 
a hand wearing a latex glove holds six tiny metal strips, each only millimeters wide and no longer than a thumbnail.

Jul 28, 2025

New Spectrometer Is Small Enough to Fit on Your Phone

The technology makes it possible to create portable, hand-held spectroscopy devices. 
red stains are spattered across a white background

Jul 14, 2025

Forensics Study Helps Investigators Draw New Clues From Bloodstains

New research offers key insights into how blood stains cotton fabrics, allowing investigators to gather additional information from forensic evidence. 
sunlight reflects off the water on a large lake

Jun 24, 2025

Why The Sun Is So Good At Evaporating Water

The key factor turns out to be the oscillating electric field inherent to sunlight itself. 
Metashell jumping on a field of snow.

Jun 6, 2025

Set It and Forget It

Dynamic structures leap into the air on a predetermined schedule without intervention from computers or external stimuli. 

May 29, 2025

Laser Technique Revolutionizes Ultra-High Temperature Ceramic Manufacturing for Space, Defense Applications

The new technique uses lasers to create ceramics that can withstand ultra-high temperatures, with applications ranging from nuclear power technologies to spacecraft and jet exhaust systems. 
diagram illustrates physical forces that allow users to concentrate particles in liquid using ultrasound

May 21, 2025

Physics Advance Details New Way to Control Solid Objects in Liquid

The discovery will allow researchers to engineer technologies that make use of the technique to develop applications in fields such as biomedical testing and drug development. 
illustration shows an aerial tramcar next to a soft robot that can also ascend and descend along a track

Apr 28, 2025

High-Wire Act: Soft Robot Can Carry Cargo Up and Down Steep Aerial Wires

Researchers have created a light-powered soft robot that can carry loads through the air along established tracks, similar to cable cars or aerial trams. 
A underwater photograph of a manta ray swimming in the ocean in French Polynesia.

Dec 13, 2024

The World’s Fastest Swimming Robot

Drawing inspiration from manta rays, NC State researchers have engineered a soft robot that can swim even faster than its record-breaking predecessor.