Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Could tiny magnetic objects, that rapidly clump together and instantly fall apart again, one day perform delicate procedures inside the human body? A new study from researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart and at ETH Zurich introduces a wireless method to stiffen and relax small structures using magnetic fields, without wires, pumps, or physical contact.
This research, recently published in Nature Communications, is a collaboration between the Multi-Scale Robotics Lab at ETH Zurich, and the Robotic Composites and Compositions Group at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart.
is.mpg.de/news/from-stiff-to-soft-in-a-snap
is.mpg.de/rococo
nature.com/articles/s41467-025-63729-z
Could tiny magnetic objects, that rapidly clump together and instantly fall apart again, one day perform delicate procedures inside the human body? A new study from researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart and at ETH Zurich introduces a wireless method to stiffen and relax small structures using magnetic fields, without wires, pumps, or physical contact.
This research, recently published in Nature Communications, is a collaboration between the Multi-Scale Robotics Lab at ETH Zurich, and the Robotic Composites and Compositions Group at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart.
is.mpg.de/news/from-stiff-to-soft-in-a-snap
is.mpg.de/rococo
nature.com/articles/s41467-025-63729-z
