A simple bouncy ball has become a key teaching tool for Penn State graduate students working to show children how materials behave and how science connects to daily life. Through “Mission: Materials Science,” an outreach program supported by Penn State’s NSF-funded Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, students collaborate with museum educators and media professionals […]
Golden experiment reveals the invisible forces holding the universe together
Scientists in Sweden have developed a simple method to make the universe’s normally invisible binding forces visible by using gold flakes, salt water and light. The Chalmers University of Technology team created a platform that displays these tiny forces—often described as “nature’s invisible glue,” responsible for effects like dust sticking to surfaces or lizards climbing […]
Fancy photochemistry for next-gen displays
In this video, see how researchers at University of Colorado Boulder create thin-film holograms by using a rubbery substrate that allows monomer movement during laser writing, then add a curing step that locks the pattern in place by turning the film from rubbery to glassy.





