What if unassembled furniture could put itself together? Or if clothing could respond to skin conditions to keep you cool – or safe? And what if you could buy flat pasta that takes shape when cooking? It’s all within the realm of possibility with “adaptive materials.” What there is to know about the Morphing Matter Lab at Carnegie Mellon University is in its name. This lab challenges and often upends what we think we know about things in our lives. It's where 2D flat pasta springs to 3D life once it's in boiling water, and a jacket made of an adaptive, transformative material reacts to humidity and body temperature -- and responsively "vents" when worn. Materials as shapeshifters will inspire and give you a glimpse of what seems like future fiction being realized today.

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