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MIT develops self-transforming materials that behave 'like robots without robots'

A cross-disciplinary research lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has developed a suite of programmable materials, including carbon fiber, printed wood grain, textile composites, rubbers and plastics, that self-transform when exposed to an external stimulus. Director of the Self-Assembly Lab, Skylar Tibbits, presented a TED talk on 4D printing in 2013, where he demonstrated how a flat sheet of material could effectively build itself when exposed to water, like a robot without a robot. Following positive feedback from industries including aviation, automotive and manufacturing, his lab has been working on developing materials that change according to different activation sources, including heat, light, and air pressure, in addition to water – all of which have automotive relevance.

Pagani Huayra pretends to be a Koenigsegg to get in to the U.S.

The first road-legal Huayra in the States – or is it a Koenigsegg?! Regular readers may remember we cast doubts on Pagani’s claim that the new Huayra would be US road legal back in 2011, when we revealed that Pagani’s plans to gain an exemption from fitting advanced airbags was denied. That meant Pagani had to go away and get the Huayra to conform with airbag regulations to make it legal to sell in the US, which Pagani promised to do and declared everything would be fine and they’d have the first road-legal Huayras Stateside by 2013.

Motown rockers Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. serve up Horse Power

NASCAR fans looking for a new soundtrack to their auto-racing season can trade in their Lynyrd Skynyrd records for an offering from Detroit-based indie-pop duo Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. In a nod to their Motor City roots, band members Josh Epstein and Daniel Zott take the stage wearing racing suits and trucker hats and croon covers of Gil Scott-Heron's “We Almost Lost Detroit.” The band, which is touring the East Coast this week, released an EP titled Horse Power last summer and is coming out with its first full-length album, It's a Corporate World, on June 7.