In the video that set materials scientist and chemical engineer Alon Gorodetsky on the path to his latest invention, an octopus appears from the algae like a jump scare in a horror movie. The creature shifts out of its camouflage coloration so rapidly it seems to materialize out of the seawater. That “remarkable” video, says the associate professor at University of California, Irvine, “really changed the trajectory of my career, because I started working on materials inspired by cephalopods.” Most recently, Gorodetsky took inspiration from a squid—specifically its color-changing skin—to create a new material that can keep in or let out an adjustable amount of heat. “Thermocomfort material,” as his team describes in the journal Nature Communications, has an array of potential uses, from heat-regulating clothing to energy-saving coatings for rooftops.
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Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
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