A microscopic lens, inspired by a Venus flytrap's ability to trap insects in a split second, can pop instantly between convex and concave when triggered,
A polymer coating made from thousands or millions of these lenses could be made into a range of applications.
These include paints that change colour or even pop off a surface on command, or road signs that change with the light or temperature.
"This snap mechanism allows you to have a very small change in pressure lead to a very large effect," says Alfred Crosby, assistant professor of polymer science and engineering at the
University of Massachusetts in Amherst
"This hasn't been previously done in terms of surface properties."
Crosby says to imagine the lens like a tennis ball that has been cut in half
If you slowly push on the half ball with both thumbs, the pressure will build to a critical point, where all of a sudden, the half will turn inside out, snapping from convex to concave
That is the idea behind his team's surface
clipped from: www.abc.net.au 