Sofas that self-assemble when you heat them up? How 4D printing could transform manufacturing
This unsung research area involves 3D-printing smart materials that can change shape when they come into contact with stimuli like heat or light.
Mahdi Bodaghi, Associate Professor of Smart Materials & Manufacturing, Nottingham Trent University
• conversation
yesterday • ~8 min
yesterday • ~8 min
Lightning strikes link weather on Earth and weather in space
Lightning can be used to probe Earth’s dynamic Van Allen radiation belts, directly connecting terrestrial weather and space weather.
Lauren Blum, Assistant Professor of Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado Boulder •
conversation
Feb. 5, 2025 • ~8 min
Feb. 5, 2025 • ~8 min
Property and sovereignty in space − as countries and companies take to the stars, they could run into disputes
Space isn’t lawless, but the agreements governing it don’t cover everything nations will have to grapple with as they develop their space programs.
Wayne N White Jr, Adjunct Professor of Aviation and Space Law, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University •
conversation
Jan. 31, 2025 • ~10 min
Jan. 31, 2025 • ~10 min
Will the US get to Mars quicker if it drops or delays plans to visit the Moon?
There’s been speculation that Donald Trump may cancel the Space Launch System rocket, which Nasa intended to use to get from the Moon to Mars.
Ian Whittaker, Senior Lecturer in Physics, Nottingham Trent University •
conversation
Jan. 29, 2025 • ~8 min
Jan. 29, 2025 • ~8 min
Bennu asteroid reveals its contents to scientists − and clues to how the building blocks of life on Earth may have been seeded
New findings reveal that a NASA mission traveled to an asteroid that may have once been covered in salty lakes containing organic molecules.
Sara Russell, Professor of Planetary Sciences, Natural History Museum
• conversation
Jan. 29, 2025 • ~10 min
Jan. 29, 2025 • ~10 min
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