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4D-PRINTED MEDICAL IMPLANTS. "Today, researchers are printing biocompatible parts to be implanted in our body ... We can now generate structures that will change shape and functionality without external intervention". One key health-care application might be cardiac stents, tubes placed inside the heart to aid healing. "We want to print parts that can survive a lifetime inside the body if necessary." https://lnkd.in/dcXrp-f View in LinkedIn

PLASMA AS FOURTH PHASE. "A plasma is a fluid, like a liquid or gas, but because of the charged particles present in a plasma, it responds to and generates electro-magnetic forces." http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/k-12/airplane/state.html View in LinkedIn

PLASMA. "Matter at the very high temperatures and pressures which typically occur on the Sun, or during re-entry from space. Under these conditions, the atoms themselves begin to break down; electrons are stripped from their orbit around the nucleus leaving a positively charged ion behind. The resulting mixture of neutral atoms, free electrons, and charged ions is called a plasma. A plasma has some unique qualities that causes scientists to label it a "fourth phase" of matter." http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/k-12/airplane/state.html View in LinkedIn

"FOUR STATES OF MATTER are observable in everyday life: solid, liquid, gas, and plasma. Many other states are known such as Bose–Einstein condensates and neutron-degenerate matter but these only occur in extreme situations such as ultra cold or ultra dense matter. Other states, such as quark–gluon plasmas, are believed to be possible but remain theoretical for now." Four states? https://lnkd.in/dRg72fJ View in LinkedIn

NEW STATES OF MATTER. "Blurring the line between materials and mechanics, it may even result in new states of matter. One possibility are "infoliquids"and "infosolids", materials than straddle the line between solid and liquid, with information encoded into its chemistry." This wild statement sounds like the dreams of alchemists. But wait. https://lnkd.in/d9CztUV View in LinkedIn

REMINDER OF OUR BLISSFUL IGNORANCE. "While dark matter is estimated to comprise 83% of the mass of matter in the universe, most of its properties remain a mystery due to the fact that it neither absorbs nor emits electromagnetic radiation, and there are many competing theories regarding what dark matter is actually made of." https://lnkd.in/dRg72fJ View in LinkedIn

PHASE CHANGES can be exploited because they involve energy, which can be used to do work. Future smart drugs will exploit these properties to deliver the payload based on materials reacting to a specific chemical environment. Just as semiconductors, the heart of modern electronics, are driven by the motions of electrons in crystals changing crystal conductivity properties, so will phase changes be harnessed in the future. View in LinkedIn

OUR TIDY WORLD is far from being so, and what we have long assumed as the basis of reality is so completely not the case. Take our physical world. I have a desk (solid), my cup of tea (liquid), and am breathing air (gas). That is about it, right? About a million miles wrong. These new states of matter will be the future toolbox of claytronics. View in LinkedIn

INSECT COLONY INSPIRED. "The design goal has shifted to creating catoms that are simple enough to only function as part of an ensemble, with the ensemble as a whole being capable of higher function." http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claytronics View in LinkedIn

HOLY GRAIL. "The goal of the researchers is to develop a millimeter scale catom with no moving parts, to allow for mass manufacturability. Millions of these microrobots will be able to emit variable color and intensity of light, allowing for dynamic physical rendering." http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claytronics View in LinkedIn