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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

Life’s wondrous forms recreated in graphene and more

A design strategy that relies on virtual lattices allows scientists to recreate biological shapes in a wide variety of materials.
An octopus with 3D curvy shape (L) and a 3D assembled octopus-like mesosurface (R).

An octopus (left) and an imitation assembled using a digital lattice strategy. Credit: X. Cheng et al./Science

Materials scientists can shape 2D films to mimic the intricate topologies that give flowers, cabbage leaves, seashells and other biological forms their extraordinary shapes and structures1.

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Nature 616, 10 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-00878-5

References

  1. Cheng, X. et al. Science 379, 1225–1232 (2023).

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