Sound waves could be used to remotely reprogram material stiffness, from implants to robotic muscles

A team of researchers co-led by the University of California San Diego, University of Michigan, and the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) at Laboratory of Acoustics of Le Mans University has demonstrated a new way to remotely control how a material behaves—using sound. The findings could lead to the development of protective gear, robotic muscles or medical implants that adjust their stiffness on demand.