Multimedia Gallery
Morphing pasta and beyond
Researchers have developed a method where they imprint tiny patterned grooves onto swellable sheets, such as flat pasta dough or silicone rubber, and watch it "morph" into spirals, tubes, twists and flowers. The method could lead to more effective food packaging by reducing packing space during transport and storage and reducing landfill waste. This work is led by the Morphing Matter Lab at Carnegie Mellon University, in collaboration with Syracuse University.
[Research supported by U.S. National Science Foundation grants CMMI 1847149 and IIS 2017008.]
Learn more in the Morphing Matter Lab's Novel 4D printing method blossoms from botanical inspiration webpage. (Date of image: July 2020; date originally posted to NSF Multimedia Gallery: Jan. 17, 2023)
Credit: Lining Yao, Morphing Matter Lab, Carnegie Mellon University
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