Auxetics defy common sense, widening when stretched and narrowing when compressed. NIST researchers have now made the process of using them much easier. Such common-sense-defying materials do exist.

Researchers at MIT’s Self-Assembly Lab have recently developed an adaptable material that reacts in response to changes in heat. Known as Heat-Active Auxetics, the material functions in a similar ...

Most materials get thinner when stretched. Take a rubber band, stretch it along its length, and it will shrink in the other two directions, getting narrower and thinner as you pull. But there are ...

The new algorithm allows for fine-tuning this relationship to create auxetic materials that behave in ways you couldn't find in nature. "Our research is a beautiful example of theoretical, ...

Such common-sense-defying materials do exist. They’re called auxetics, and they have a raft of unique properties that make them well-suited for sneaker insoles, bomb-resilient buildings, car bumpers ...