A Shape-Shifting Plastic With a Flexible Future (nytimes.com) 28
New submitter Smonster shares a report from the New York Times: With restrictions on space and weight, what would you bring if you were going to Mars? An ideal option might be a single material that can shift shapes into any object you imagine. In the morning, you could mold that material into utensils for eating. When breakfast is done, you could transform your fork and knife into a spade to tend to your Martian garden. And then when it's happy hour on the red planet, that spade could become a cup for your Martian beer. What sounds like science fiction is, perhaps, one step closer to reality.
Researchers at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering have created a new type of plastic with properties that can be set with heat and then locked in with rapid cooling, a process known as tempering. Unlike classic plastics, the material retains this stiffness when returned to room temperature. The findings, published in the journal Science on Thursday, could someday change how astronauts pack for space.
"Rather than taking all the different plastics with you, you take this one plastic with you and then just give it the properties you need as you require," said Stuart Rowan, a chemist at the University of Chicago and an author of the new study. But space isn't the only place the material could be useful. Dr. Rowan's team also sees its potential in other environments where resources are scare -- like at sea or on the battlefield. It could also be used to make soft robots and to improve plastics recycling.
Researchers at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering have created a new type of plastic with properties that can be set with heat and then locked in with rapid cooling, a process known as tempering. Unlike classic plastics, the material retains this stiffness when returned to room temperature. The findings, published in the journal Science on Thursday, could someday change how astronauts pack for space.
"Rather than taking all the different plastics with you, you take this one plastic with you and then just give it the properties you need as you require," said Stuart Rowan, a chemist at the University of Chicago and an author of the new study. But space isn't the only place the material could be useful. Dr. Rowan's team also sees its potential in other environments where resources are scare -- like at sea or on the battlefield. It could also be used to make soft robots and to improve plastics recycling.
Eww factor is high on this one (Score:1)
If you are turning your knife and fork into a shove, you better start with a very big knife and fork, or you are going to end up with a pretty small shovel.
Don't know if I would want to drink from a cup made from that shovel either, if martian farming is anything like what was shown on The Martian, where human waste is used as fertilizer.
Re: (Score:2)
I'm thinking this is more like a small step towards replicator like technology, an evolution of 3d printer. A type of material that can get put back into a machine, and repurposed into a new shape and form to meet your need. Need a chair? Turns the plastic into a chair. Need a table? Got it. Don't need those anymore but need a step ladder? Reforms again.
Depending if the material can only be reshaped as a intact contiguous or if it can be reformed entirely, basically melted down like iron and poured into a n
Re:Eww factor is high on this one (Score:4, Insightful)
How is this different from thermoplastics [wikipedia.org], which have been around since Dustin Hoffman graduated from college?
You can buy moldable thermoplastic [amazon.com] on Amazon.
I bought a bag when I was helping to run an after-school GATE program at the local elementary school. The kids loved it.
Re: (Score:2)
Shapelock to the rescue (Score:5, Informative)
Agreed. This type of product has been around for decades. Some of the common names are Shapelock, Instamorph, moldable plastic, etc. It sets up hard, can be cut, sanded, drilled, tapped, and reheated and reused.
The Many Uses of ShapeLock - 2011 [makezine.com]
Using moldable plastic to make a tool to repair a trumpet [youtu.be]
Re: (Score:2)
New freaky plastic with no adverse health effects. (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
When surrounded by all that stuff, yet life expectancy is much higher than 100 years ago when none of that stuff even existed.
Re: (Score:2)
*We're
Re: (Score:2)
Well, your argument definitely convinced me I was wrong.
You must have been on a phthalate diet.
Re: (Score:2)
Not a big deal (Score:2)
Let me know when mimetic poly-alloy is invented.
It's about spare parts, and energy. Not forks. (Score:1)
It takes energy to fix the new shape. So sure, less space for your "fork" that could be a "spoon" but how about that nuclear reactor to convert all those "forks" into spoons.
Why did I say nuclear power? That's what we use in spacecraft for power. Combustion engines need oxygen. Electrical power from solar cells are failures because of inefficiencies, dust, landing upside down, and short life-cycle.
Still, Rome wasn't built in a day, and this advance may lead to something useful. It would be nice to kno
Re: (Score:1)
Solar panels are not the long-term answer to power. Nuclear energy is.
Without that, shape-shifting plastic (that requires energy) is a non-starter.
Go wipe the dust off your glasses and read it again.
How stupid (Score:1)
I guess some delusional billionaires are sponsoring this crap.
Re: (Score:3)
The authors of the paper had affiliations and/or funding from NASA, NIST, DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory, University of Chicago, and National Science Foundation; and declared no competing interests.
Plastic Space Pussy (Score:1)
Sized for all travelers. Easy to recycle. Just one of the many benefits of space travel for the lonely.
Re: (Score:2)
Sized for all travelers. Easy to recycle. Just one of the many benefits of space travel for the lonely.
Yes, I know the cramped seats are meant for one size fits all, but did you have to rub in we’re easy to recycle as well?
you said Space Pussy, so here's a reward for you: (Score:1)
micro (Score:1)
Re: (Score:3)
>Maybe we can make it uninhabitable before we can colonize it.
You realize that even before the 'lack of atmosphere and dangerous solar radiation on the surface", the whole surface is likely covered in dust that's toxic to humans, and the available water isn't all that available in practical terms, right?
No matter what, any human habitation on Mars will require a LOT of technology to keep a human habitat viable. Scrubbing some microplastics would be trivial in comparison.
One of the very first things we'r
How is this any different than InstaMorph? (Score:4, Interesting)
I've been using this stuff for years for craft projects: https://instamorph.com/ [instamorph.com]
Pour into hot water. Mold like clay. Wait for it to cool. Want to change it? Put back into hot water.
Of course, now I tend to 3D print stuff. You can buy recycled PET filament, too. A machine with a chipper and melter and re-extruder shouldn't be that hard to build, either. The big problem, as with other plastic recycling, is to make sure the plastic is sufficiently clean first.
Who cares of Mars ?!? (Score:3)
You face the very same problem when booking a Ryanair flight!
Re: (Score:2)
> With restrictions on space and weight, what would you bring if you were going to Mars?
You face the very same problem when booking a Ryanair flight!
I once thought that the crowd that flies on Ryanair was bad... then I sat next to people boarding a Spirit flight.
Shape-shifting microplastics (Score:2)
Next step will be living microplastics. They'll have to move the hands of the doomsday clock even closer to midnight! Wait, do you suppose the hands of the doomsday clock might be made of plastic too? Maybe even shape-shifting plastic???