Australian physicists have engineered a new kind of artificial substance that can change its structure in response to light or other kinds of radiation.Unlike natural substances, the man-made material does not have fixed physical properties, explains Dr. Ilya Shadrivov, part of the team from the Australian National University who worked on the project.Under normal circumstances it might be transparent, but when an electromagnetic force is applied, it would compress and become less transparent, he says.The new material, called a magnetoelastic metamaterial, responds differently to varying levels of electromagnetic radiation, such as microwaves or visible light.The key to the material’s shape-shifting abilities lies in a series of ‘split ring resonators’ that are embedded in a base material.When you launch electromagnetic waves through the substance, these resonators are magnetically attracted to each other, compressing the material itself.Learn more from ABC Science.
Shape-Shifting Metamaterial Reacts to Radiation
