B.B.C. Article
Physicists are abuzz with possibilities for "metamaterials" that can be designed to have surprising properties.
Tweaking the structure of materials to manipulate things like their appearance is already fairly well-known; the next phase is changing their mechanics.


The group's latest ceramic designs use a lattice of lattices, rather like the Eiffel Tower

A major conference is alive with ideas, designs and samples including springy ceramics, unfeelability cloaks and programmable rubber sponges.
They could help build spacecraft tiles or even terrain-sensitive shoe soles.
"I think this idea of metamaterials is slowly migrating into different areas," said Prof Martin Wegener, from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany.
"Originally the excitement was all about electromagnetism - and then it went to totally different areas like thermodynamics and, lately, mechanics."

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