An intelligent plastic that is so flexible when left to its own devices while flow like a very slow moving liquid, but hit it with a hammer and the intelligent molecules form which it is made stiffen up instantaneously and absorb the energy of the blow. Such a polymer has been incorporated into textiles and clothing to create lightweight and flexible body armour for high-impact sports and other activities to save users from serious impact injuries. The polymer and textile-embedded material was the brainchild of UK company d3o, which has recently worked with a sports clothing manufacturer to develop a range of protective gear.
There was a video that demonstrated how to protect a falling egg using this material. This would make an excellent science fair project: compare different packaging materials for protecting eggs – cardboard, polycarbonate, d30 intelligent material. Unfortunately, the vid is no longer available.
The smart material is made up of a matrix of polymers with tiny pockets filled with a fluid. In normal wear, the material moves freely with your body movements but if you take a dive, the intelligent molecules in the fluid stiffen in less than a thousandth of a second, which makes them absorb the energy of the impact It works because under normal conditions, the polymer molecules move and slide across each other, but when they are put under rapid shear stress in an impact, for instance, the polymer molecules immediately form cross-links with one another and the material stiffens to take the brunt of the impact. Once the force is removed, the polymer cross-links are disengaged by further low force movements and the material reverts to its flexible state.
Most people are well aware of the traditional materials offered to married couples to celebrate their wedding anniversary. You know the kinds of thing I mean – ruby for instance is the gem of choice for a 40th anniversary, although why a chunk of chromium infested aluminium oxide should have been chosen for this year in particular I don’t know. The noble elements silver and gold are 25th and 50th respectively, while the hardest allotrope of carbon, represents the 60th celebration (diamond, that is). If you want the complete list check out our 
I recently interviewed Robert Parker, the new Managing Director of RSC Publishing, you can read his interview in the February issue of 
Fed up with using up so many batteries? Rechargeables giving you poor mileage? Then why not try a couple of sweet potatoes instead.
Scientific stereotypes continue to persist, stretching even as far as recent Google acquisition, Youtube, the social video upload site. (Right click and view image to read it full size).
It’s Boxing Day and you’re probably seriously bored playing the “normal” game of Pick-up Monkeys. Rather than heading for the Wii or the PS3, how about adding a little monkey magic, or more seriously some wire binders and following Dr N. Michael Green, Division of Mathematical Biology, of the UK’s prestigious Medical Research Council (MRC) National Institute for Medical Research to do a little bit of science education with those colourful plastic monkeys.