March 4, 2024

Robots and cameras of the future could be made of liquid crystals, thanks to a new discovery that significantly expands the potential of the chemicals already common in computer displays and digital watches. The findings, a simple and inexpensive way to manipulate the molecular properties of liquid crystals with light exposure, are now published in Advanced Materials. “Using our method, any lab with a microscope and a set of lenses can arrange the liquid crystal

Scientists have developed a new robot that can ‘mimic’ the two-handed movements of care-workers as they dress an individual. Until now, assistive dressing robots, designed to help an elderly person or a person with a disability get dressed, have been created in the laboratory as a one-armed machine, but research has shown that this can be uncomfortable for the person in care or impractical. To tackle this problem, Dr Jihong Zhu, a robotics researcher at