Researchers at the US Air Force and Penn State University, Pennsylvania, have harnessed mechanical information processing and integrated it into an engineered material that can "think."

Scientists built on research dating back to 1938, and harnessed mechanical information processing, and integrated it into an advanced form of material.

"We have created the first example of an engineering material that can simultaneously sense, think and act upon mechanical stress, without requiring additional circuits to process such signals," said Ryan Harne, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Pennsylvania State University.

"The soft polymer material acts like a brain that can receive digital strings of information that are then processed, resulting in new sequences of digital information that can control reactions."

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