For millions of years, living organisms have developed an impressive ability to change their shape and behavior when circumstances change. Cells can alter their structure, tissues can respond to forces, and animals can adapt their movements to their surroundings. This ability to adjust is an important part of survival and evolution. Now, researchers are bringing a similar idea into the world of artificial materials. A team led by Yao Du has developed metamaterials that can physically learn how to change shape . Unlike conventional materials, which are normally designed to perform a specific movement or function, these new metamaterials can be trained using examples. They can gradually modify their internal properties, remember learned behaviors, forget old ones, and learn new shape-changing responses. The research could open a new direction for adaptive materials, soft robotics and physical artificial intelligence . What Makes These Metamaterials Different? Metamaterials are specially ...