We’ve seen RoboBees that can fly, stick to walls, and dive into water. Now, get ready for a hybrid RoboBee that can fly, dive into water, swim, propel itself back out of water, and safely land. New floating devices allow this multipurpose air-water microrobot to stabilize on the water’s surface before an internal combustion system…

Not far from where Edwin Land — the inventor of the Polaroid camera — made his pioneering discoveries about polarized light, researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) are continuing to unlock the power of polarization. Recently, a team of researchers led by Federico Capasso, the Robert L.…

Nature does amazing things with limited design materials. Grass, for example, can support its own weight, resist strong wind loads, and recover after being compressed. The plant’s hardiness comes from a combination of its hollow, tubular macrostructure and porous microstructure. These architectural features work together to give grass its robust mechanical properties. Inspired by natural…