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Scientists Discover Way to Send Information into Black Holes Without Using Energy

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This New ‘Living’ Material Can Walk, Crawl, and Think Without a Brain Could Help Robots Feel

When we think about everyday materials, we usually imagine things like metal, glass, concrete, or rubber. These materials are all around us, forming the buildings we live in, the vehicles we use, and the tools we rely on. But they all share one important feature: they are passive. This means they only respond when an external force is applied. Push them, and they move. Pull them, and they stretch. Without outside energy, they remain still and inactive.

However, scientists have now begun exploring a fascinating new category known as active matter—materials that can move, respond, and even perform tasks using their own internal energy. This breakthrough is opening the door to a future where materials are no longer just structural, but intelligent and responsive.

What is Active Matter?

Active matter refers to systems that can generate motion or mechanical forces from within. Unlike traditional materials, they do not rely solely on external pushes or pulls. Instead, they have built-in energy sources that allow them to react dynamically to their surroundings.

A simple way to understand this concept is by looking at nature. Consider a flock of birds flying in the sky. Each bird moves independently, yet together they behave like a single coordinated unit. They adjust to wind, obstacles, and even predators in real time. This collective behavior is a natural example of active matter.

But active matter is not limited to biological systems. Scientists have successfully recreated similar behavior in laboratories using simple mechanical components.

Building Active Materials in the Lab

In recent years, researchers have developed artificial active materials using basic elements such as rods, small motors, and elastic connectors like rubber bands. By carefully designing how these components interact, they can create systems that behave in surprisingly complex ways.

One key idea behind these materials is non-reciprocal interaction. In simple terms, this means that when one part of the system moves, the response of the other part is not equal and opposite. This breaks the traditional rules of mechanics and allows the system to behave in new and unexpected ways.

For example, if one rod in a structure moves, the connected rod might rotate at a different angle instead of simply following the motion. This imbalance is what gives active materials their unique abilities.

Buckling and Snapping: A New Behavior

To understand how active materials differ from passive ones, think about a simple paper ticket. If you compress it between your fingers, it will bend or buckle. Push it further, and it may suddenly snap to the other side. This is a one-time reaction driven entirely by external force.

Now imagine a similar system, but built with active components. Scientists created chains of rods connected by tiny motors. When they applied pressure, the system still buckled and snapped—but with a major difference. Instead of happening just once, the motion repeated itself.

These active chains could oscillate, meaning they kept moving back and forth. Even more impressively, they could start to crawl, walk, or dig without continuous external input.

This happens because the system reaches what scientists call a critical exceptional point. In simple language, this is a state where the material becomes highly sensitive and capable of continuous motion.

Why This Matters

This discovery is not just scientifically interesting—it has real-world applications. One of the most exciting possibilities is in the field of soft robotics.

Traditional robots rely on rigid structures and centralized control systems. In contrast, soft robots made from active materials could move and adapt more like living organisms. They could bend, stretch, and respond to their environment without needing constant instructions from a central processor.

This could lead to robots that are safer, more flexible, and capable of operating in complex environments, such as inside the human body or in disaster zones.

When More Activity Means Less Effect

Another surprising discovery in active matter research challenges a long-standing principle in engineering known as Le Chatelier's Principle. This principle suggests that changes at a small scale will produce similar effects at a larger scale. For example, making individual components stronger should make the entire structure stronger.

But in active materials, this is not always true.

Researchers built a two-dimensional lattice structure using rods and motors, similar to a network. They expected that increasing the activity of individual components would make the whole system more responsive. Instead, they found the opposite in some cases—the structure became less effective.

Understanding Percolation

The key to this puzzle lies in a concept called percolation, which describes how something spreads through a system.

A helpful analogy is making coffee. When hot water is poured over coffee grounds, it needs to flow evenly through the powder to extract flavor. If the coffee is packed too tightly, the water cannot pass through properly.

Similarly, in active materials, if less active components are too densely packed, they can block the flow of energy or motion. Even if some parts are highly active, their effects may not spread throughout the entire structure.

This means that designing active materials is not just about increasing activity, but also about arranging components in the right way.

Broad Impact Across Fields

The implications of these findings extend far beyond physics. Active materials could play a major role in:

  • Biophysics, by helping us understand how cells and tissues behave

  • Engineering, by enabling smarter and more adaptive structures

  • Robotics, by creating machines that move naturally and efficiently

  • Medical science, through soft devices that interact safely with the human body

  • Neural networks, by inspiring systems that process information in new ways

These materials blur the line between living and non-living systems, offering a new perspective on how matter can function.

The Future of Smart Materials

Active matter represents a major shift in how we think about materials. Instead of being passive objects, materials can now be designed to act, respond, and even make decisions in a limited sense.

In the future, we may see buildings that adjust their shape in response to environmental conditions, wearable devices that adapt to our movements, or robots that navigate complex terrains without human control.

The research into active materials is still in its early stages, but the possibilities are vast. By combining simple components in clever ways, scientists are unlocking behaviors that were once thought to belong only to living systems.

Conclusion

From self-moving chains to responsive networks, active materials are transforming our understanding of physics and engineering. They show us that even simple building blocks, when combined in the right way, can produce complex and intelligent behavior.

As research continues, these materials could redefine technology, making it more adaptive, efficient, and closer to the natural world than ever before.

References: (1) Sami C. Al-Izzi et al, Nonreciprocal buckling makes active filaments polyfunctional, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2026). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2531723123 (2) Jack Binysh et al, More is Less in Unpercolated Active Solids, Physical Review X (2026). DOI: 10.1103/flhb-kjyd

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