Many of us could happily fold a paper crane, yet few feel confident solving an equation like x³ – 3 x² – x + 3 = 0, to find a value for x. Both activities, however, share similar skills: precision, ...

Researchers recently shared details on creating foldable, self-locking structures by using multi-material 3D printing. These origami-inspired designs can transition between flat and three-dimensional ...

An origami-inspired ‘metamaterial’ has been engineered to have properties not found in natural materials — enabling it to undergo large, reversible deformations. Read the paper: Modular chiral origami ...

If you want to print something a few inches tall, extruded plastic is a good medium. But when you need something at the nanometer scale, DNA is a better bet — but who has the time to design and ...

In a breakthrough that blends ancient design with modern materials science, researchers have developed a new class of ceramic structures that can bend under pressure -- without breaking. In a ...

Researchers used their new technique to fold a glass bar (a), create an optical resonator (b), to achieve helical bending (c), and to create a table with a parabolic reflector (middle, lower row).