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Engineers Develop Smart Material That Changes Stiffness When Twisted or Bent

A new smart and responsive material can stiffen up like a worked-out muscle, say the Iowa State University engineers who developed it. Stress a muscle and it gets stronger. Mechanically stress the rubbery material – say with a twist or a bend – and the material automatically stiffens by up to 300 percent, the engineers

Iowa State University Designs Electricity Generator that Mimics Trees

AMES, Iowa – Money doesn’t grow on trees, but electricity might someday. Iowa State University scientists have built a device that mimics the branches and leaves of a cottonwood tree and generates electricity when its artificial leaves sway in the wind. Michael McCloskey, an associate professor of genetics, development and cell biology who led the