A section of the new material Takahiro Matsuda
Do you even lift? A new material is the stuff of envy for muscleheads everywhere: it bulks up and self-strengthens without ever needing to hit the gym.
Takahiro Matsuda and his colleagues at Hokkaido University in Japan have developed a “self-growing” hydrogel, which improves its size and strength after repeated mechanical force. They believe it could be used to make flexible exosuits, for people with skeletal injuries, which become stronger the more they are used.
Hydrogels are soft, flexible materials that come in a wide variety of forms: they’re used in disposable…
