Get the latest tech news

Researchers developed a programmable metafluid with tunable springiness, optical properties, viscosity & can transition between a Newtonian & non-Newtonian fluid. The metafluid uses a suspension of small, elastomer spheres that buckle under pressure, radically changing the fluid's characteristics.

Researchers develop metafluid with programmable response

Researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have developed a programmable metafluid with tunable springiness, optical properties, viscosity and even the ability to transition between a Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluid. But most of the materials — such as the metalenses pioneered in the lab of Federico Capasso, Robert L. Wallace Professor of Applied Physics and Vinton Hayes Senior Research Fellow in Electrical Engineering at SEAS — are solid. “Unlike solid metamaterials, metafluids have the unique ability to flow and adapt to the shape of their container,” said Katia Bertoldi, William and Ami Kuan Danoff Professor of Applied Mechanics at SEAS and senior author of the paper.

Get the Android app