Arias Pistons 12.5:1 Compression 82mm Bore Honda B-series on 2040-parts.com

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.

Car sales plunge, Bank of England cuts rates

New car sales plunge in October: Renault sales were down by more than half By Nigel Wonnacott Motor Industry 06 November 2008 12:30 Following the sixth monthly decline in new car sales this year (down 23% this month), economists have revised market forecasts downwards, while the Bank of England has cut interest rates by 1.5%. October’s 23% drop was the worst so far and trade body SMMT now fears sales could end the year at just 2.15 million cars. That’s 8% lower than the 2.34 million predicted to leave showrooms back in January and would be the worst market performance in more than a decade.

Citroen Cactus stars at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show

Citroen's big news at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show was the launch of the Cactus concept car. This spikily named show car is more than just a wacky concept - the Citroen Cactus marks the relaunch of the French brand's bread-and-butter cars. Struck by the success of the DS models, it's now hoping to achieve similar success with a rejuvenated range of C-line models.