In a high-temperature blaze, how well does a fireproofing material shield a building’s important steel structures from heat? Answering this question has been surprisingly difficult, but it is important information for builders selecting high-performance fire-resistive materials and for scientists conducting computer simulations that investigate fires.

University of Oregon researchers trying to flip the spin of electrons with laser bursts lasting picoseconds (a trillionth of a second) instead found a way to manipulate and control the spin -- knowledge that may prove useful in a variety of new materials and technologies.

A new computer simulation has revealed a self-healing behavior in a common ceramic that may lead to development of radiation-resistant materials for nuclear power plants and waste storage.

A novel class of hybrid materials made from metals and organic compounds is changing the face of solid state chemistry and materials science just 10 years after its discovery, with applications already in safe storage of highly inflammable gases such as hydrogen and methane.

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Rice University have created the darkest material ever made by man.

Researchers in New Jersey report development of a new type of non-stick material whose ability to shed liquids like water from a duck’s back can be turned on or off simply by flipping an electrical switch.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed an imaging system that quickly maps the mechanical properties of materials—how stiff or stretchy they are, for example—at scales on the order of billionths of a meter.

Researchers at the University of Rochester have developed a shape-memory rubber that may enable applications as diverse as biomedical implants, conformal face-masks, self-sealing sutures, and "smart" labels.

A water repellent developed by researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory outperforms nature at its best and could open a floodgate of commercial possibilities.

Breathing new life into an old idea, MIT Institute Professor Mildred S. Dresselhaus and co-workers are developing innovative materials for controlling temperatures that could lead to substantial energy savings by allowing more efficient car engines, photovoltaic cells and electronic devices.

A team of international physicists that includes researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has found experimental evidence of a highly sought-after type of arrangement of atomic magnetic moments, or spins, in a series of materials.

A team of Brooklyn College researchers has shattered a long-held belief that no direct pathway exists between material outside of a cell and the cell nucleus. (The cell is the smallest metabolically functional unit of life.)