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Novel 4D printing method blossoms from botanical inspiration

Materials science and mathematics combine to enable the printing of shapeshifting architectures that mimic the natural movements of plants. A team of scientists at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University and the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences has evolved their microscale 3D printing technology to the fourth dimension, time. Inspired by natural structures like plants, which respond and change their form over time according to environmental stimuli, the team has unveiled 4D-printed hydrogel composite structures that change shape upon immersion in water.”

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