“A team from MIT and Duke created flexible polymers that can change color and texture in response to a controlled voltage, essentially allowing them to camouflage an object with the flip of a switch,” reports Jim Festante for Slate. This mimics the ability of cephalopods in nature to rapidly change color.
Professor Xuanhe Zhao has developed a material that mimics the ability of cephalopods such as cuttlefish, squids, and octopuses, to rapidly change color, reports Rachel Feltman for The Washington Post. "It's a fantastic quality, and one unprecedented in human engineering," says Zhao.
Michael Farrell of The Boston Globe reports on a robotic ankle created by Professor Hugh Herr’s startup, BiOM. “The BiOM ankle is programmed to replicate all the natural functionality of the foot and ankle,” writes Farrell.
Washington Post reporter Nia-Malika Henderson highlights several projects being presented at this year’s White House Science Fair, including the search-and-rescue vehicle developed by Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam students Katelyn Sweeney and Olivia Van Amsterdam.
USA Today reporter Kelly Whiteside highlights Professor Hugh Herr’s work developing bionic prosthetic limbs that emulate the function of natural limbs. Herr developed a bionic leg that allowed Boston Marathon bombing survivor Adrianne Haslet-Davis to dance again.