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

This week in 1963: N

Safety is a priority for drivers, teams and courses. Over the past century automobile safety has been slowly evolving (or rapidly evolving, if Ralph Nader has had anything to say about it). Needless to say, it is unusual for a safety feature that performed its function to make news.

Porsche Cayenne GTS (2012) first official pictures

For those who prefer to take their sporting SUV strictly turbo-free, Porsche has unveiled the racier GTS variant of its benchmark Cayenne. Weighing in at a hefty £67,147 before you've tackled the infamous Porsche options list, the Cayenne GTS lands in UK showrooms in July 2012. Porsche Cayenne GTS: what's special about it?

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.