In a story that sounds like pure science fiction, shape changing drones and robots are one step closer to reality.

Engineers from Cornell University, in Ithaca, New York, and funded by the U.S. Air Force have created a composite material made partly of silicone and partly of metal. The metal has a very low melting point of 144 F or 62 C. This could allow researchers to build machines that have both of these materials propertie.

In an interview Ilse Van Meerbeek, graduate student of Cornell in mechanical engineering said “The driving vision behind this is the puffin, It can fly through the air then shorten its wings and dive into the water. Without this ability its wings would break.”

At low temperatures the properties of the metal are dominant leaving the material like a strong light metal. When heated the metal melts and becomes soft and flexible like a silicone foam. In this state the material can be twisted into new shapes. It will hold these shapes until reheated when the material will return to its original shape. Without lossing any of it’s strength, they added.

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