2013 Porsche Cayman: LA Auto Show (video)

The 2013 Porsche Cayman has arrived at the Los Angeles Auto Show with more power, less weight, better economy and is lower and longer than the old Cayman. The new Cayman gets a redesigned platform that manages to improve weight distribution and drops weight too. It also means that the Cayman changes shape too (well, as much as a Porsche ever does) and grows by 35mm in length and sits 10mm lower too for an even more Boxster-like look.

MIT develops self-transforming materials that behave 'like robots without robots'

A cross-disciplinary research lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has developed a suite of programmable materials, including carbon fiber, printed wood grain, textile composites, rubbers and plastics, that self-transform when exposed to an external stimulus. Director of the Self-Assembly Lab, Skylar Tibbits, presented a TED talk on 4D printing in 2013, where he demonstrated how a flat sheet of material could effectively build itself when exposed to water, like a robot without a robot. Following positive feedback from industries including aviation, automotive and manufacturing, his lab has been working on developing materials that change according to different activation sources, including heat, light, and air pressure, in addition to water – all of which have automotive relevance.

Chrysler and Nissan lead March sales gains

Chrysler Group and Nissan Motor Co. posted solid gains in March U.S. sales, while Toyota Motor Corp., General Motors and Ford Motor Co.