#epfl

Electronic fiber with liquid metal droplets enables stretchable sensing

EPFL researchers have engineered a fiber-based electronic sensor that remains functional even when stretched to over 10 times its original length. The device holds promise for smart textiles, physical rehabilitation devices, and soft robotics. The phrase "liquid metal" may bring to mind something hazardous, like mercury or molten steel. But in the Laboratory of Photonic Materials and Fiber Devices (FIMAP) in EPFL's School of Engineering, it simply means a mixture of indium and gallium that is nontoxic, remains liquid at room temperature, and shows great promise for developing electronic fibers for wearables and robotic sensors. Unfortunately, as FIMAP head Fabien Sorin explains, liquid metals are extremely difficult to process, and it's especially hard to produce electronic fibers that combine high and stable conductivity with stretchability. Now, the lab has overcome this challenge using a technique called thermal drawing, which is traditionally used to engineer fiber optics.

Blue Brain Project | Mouse Neocortex Tractography

RAVEN (Robotic Avian-inspired Vehicle for multiple ENvironments)

EPFL researchers have built a drone that can walk, hop, and jump into flight with the aid of birdlike legs

Light is both a wave and a particle.

Right. Sounds like cognitive dissonance, or non-dualistic Hinduism ("Atman is Brahman"), or maybe Shimmer ("it's a floor wax AND a dessert topping.")

Albert Einstein suggested that light is not only a wave but is also a stream of particles.

But the damn duo would never pose for photos. Until now.

HOUSE 1 is een installatie dat gebaseerd op een experimenteel concept voor collaboratief ontwerpen en bouwen door ALICE (Atelier de la Conception de l’Espace), een internationale groep van jonge architecten en doctoraatskandidaten van het Zwitserse EPFL, onder leiding van directeur Dieter Dietz.