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Alfa Romeo going to the USA

Alfa Romeo is going back to the US for the first time in almost 20 years We already know that the only Fiat making its way to the US is the Fiat 500, but it now looks as if a big chunk of the Alfa Romeo range will make the journey too. Sergio Marchionne, Fiat’s boss and the new head of Chrysler, has been working on rationalising Chrysler’s management and working out the best way forward. As mentioned, only the Fiat 500 will be offered for sale in America (and probably built in Mexico), with Fiat platforms being used to build new Chryslers that will be designed and built in the States.

New Mercedes-Benz S-class spotted in SoCal

The new Mercedes-Benz S-class must be hustling toward the developmental-cycle finish line, because it's been spotted en masse in places such as Toronto (where it must be undergoing cold-weather testing) and Irvine, Calif. (where it must be gauging the interest of Benz-crazy vox populi). Because as devoid as it is of bodywork-breaking pillboxes, camera-obfuscating swirl paint, and surly engineers, the fact that it's seen here in little more than some sticky paper and a pair of cheap sunglasses on the driver means that the elder statesman of the automotive world is readying its next debut.

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.