The new form of synthetic metastable germanium, developed at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids in Dresden, Germany, has a porous clathrate structure decorated with cavities, is less dense than its natural analogue and floats in its own liquid. It has the potential to emit light and can be scaled to prepare thin films for high efficiency optoelectronics applications.

An X-ray microscope has been developed at the University of California, Los Angeles, USA, for quantitative and non-destructive 3D imaging of materials at the nanoscale. Applications include porous materials, semiconductors, inorganic nanostructures and biomaterials.

The Materials and Design Exchange (MaDE) aims to bring together the product design and materials communities. Events organised by MaDE have covered the disposal of fire-retardant bedding materials, architecture, intelligent textiles, natural materials, advanced ceramics, auxetic materials and intelligent interfaces. A materials resource centre is being developed at IOM3's London offices.

A lightweight, breathable composite to protect military personnel and employees in the chemical industry has been developed by TDA Research Inc and the University of Colorado, USA, based on a combination of butyl rubber and liquid crystals. The polymer membrane obtained can be laminated onto fabrics to protect clothing against exposure to toxic chemicals.

The feasibility of electrospinning technology to produce polymeric threads containing viable brain cells, has been demonstrated by researchers at University College London, UK. The creation of biologically active threads and scaffolds of living organisms may have a range of bioengineering and medical applications.

Research at CERAM, Loughborough University and Queens University Belfast shows that rotary moulding can be adepted to reduce production costs, and waste from hollow ceramic items. The technology, widely used to manufacture hollow polymer objects, enclosing a ceramic slip in a closed mould that is rotated around two axes while being heated in an oven.

The University of Manchester has won the EPSRC's inaugural Knowledge Transfer Challenge award for research into advances in communication between computer systems. Other projects in the final covered wound care (Aston), electronics (Edinburgh), detection of counterfeit bank notes (Leeds) and pollution legacies of disused mines (Newcastle).

An Anglo-Spanish Eureka project involving Tecvac, Cambridge UK, has developed wet-chemical and plasma stripping processes for stripping hard-wearing non-friction coatings from the surfaces of steel, titanium alloys and hard metal tungsten carbide tools and components in sectors such as aerospace and biomedicine. But as well as ease of application, the ability to remove these layers is essential.