Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam-Golm have created targeted conductive structures on paper. Their method relies on conventional inkjet printer which prints a catalyst on a sheet of paper. After getting heated, the printed areas on the paper get converted into conductive graphite. Being an inexpensive, light and flexible… »
Cooperation between researchers at Stuttgart University, the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems and the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, resulted with a material which is as hard as copper, yet flexible enough to be rolled up or folded. This material is actually made from a vanadium pentoxide ceramic, and it has another… »
Inspired by structural elements found in most sea sponges, researchers at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPI-P) in Germany have recreated the sponge spicules using the natural mineral calcium carbonate and a protein of the sponge. The resulting material is a synthetic hybrid which has almost 90… »
Researchers of the Max Planck Institute (MPI) of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam, the MPI of Microstructure Physics in Halle and the University of Vienna have investigated the composition and structure of spider fangs which serve as reusable hypodermic needles used to inject paralyzing venom into their prey. The findings may lead to development of… »
Since almost all of the body’s own regeneration mechanisms in the heart have become deactivated, a heart attack or other heart damage is serious for patients since the dead cardiac cells are irretrievably lost and scar tissue grows in place of the damaged muscle cells. Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research in Bad… »
The high winds were thought to be a rich potential source of renewable energy, however, a study by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry in Jena, Germany, shows that the near absence of friction and absence of strong propulsion cause the jet streams that sweep the upper atmosphere to harness about 200 times… »
Although we already wrote about many materials that could serve as liquid repellant surfaces, the one developed by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz and the Technical University Darmstadt stands out by being superamphiphobic. They used candle soot to produce a fluorinated silicon coated silica nanostructure which is capable to… »
Max Planck Institute (MPI) researchers are using computer simulations and prototypes in order to enhance the simulations control of multiple robots. They are developing flying multi-robot systems, which receive instructions from a user and fulfill the commands in an autonomous manner. Navigated by a human operator, four or more of these Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)… »
