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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.

Red Bull do doughnuts on the Burj Al Arab Helipad to celebrate F1 title (video)

David Coulthard gives the thumbs up whilst doing doughnuts Sebastian Vettel may be cool, collected and composed behind the wheel of his Red Bull F1, but even an in-control German needs to let off steam when he’s just taken his fourth F1 drivers title in a row. So at last week’s Indian Grand Prix, Seb celebrated his title win by producing a series of doughnuts in his car on the finish line, much to the annoyance of FIA officials who fined him €25k for his celebrations. But the latest doughnuts by an F1 team won’t have the FIA up in arms (probably) even if the stunt Red Bull have pulled to mark their latest achievements will give anyone who’s afraid of heights the heebie-jeebies.