Now imagine them on the nanoscale and made of soft crystals. Materials scientist Ned Thomas of Rice University's Brown School of Engineering has done more than imagine them -- he and his lab have made ...

The green hairstreak butterfly (Callophrys rubi) gets its blue-green hue from complex nanoscale structures on its wings. The structures, called gyroids, are repeating patterns of spiral-shaped curls.

Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have discovered new ways to use complex geometry to make strong, lightweight shapes that might be useful as structural materials for airplanes, ...