A new review in International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing highlights the rapid progress in turning metallic materials into flexible electrodes (FEs) and, ultimately, soft epidermal electrodes (SEEs). Unlike the rigid metal pads traditionally used in medical monitoring, SEEs are engineered to mimic the softness and stretchability of skin itself. They conform like a second layer of tissue, remaining comfortable even during long wear and delivering stable, high-quality signals.

Could tiny magnetic objects, that rapidly clump together and instantly fall apart again, one day perform delicate procedures inside the human body? A new study from researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart, Germany, and at ETH Zurich introduces a wireless method to stiffen and relax small structures using magnetic fields, without wires, pumps, or physical contact.

Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden and the US space agency NASA have made an unexpected discovery that challenges one of the basic rules of chemistry and provides new knowledge about Saturn’s enigmatic moon Titan. In its extremely cold environment, normally incompatible substances can still be mixed. This discovery broadens our understanding of chemistry before the emergence of life. 

Inspired by living cells, researchers have designed DNA molecules that allow drug concentrations in blood to be measured digitally using an inexpensive reader.