By Peter Weiss
Using simple blocks with shapes like cubes or hourglasses, researchers have found ways to construct strong panels with no fasteners securing most of the blocks. Such constructions remain intact even after losing up to half of their units, says Yuri Estrin, a materials scientist at the Technical University of Clausthal, Germany.
In the June Philosophical Magazine Letters, he and his colleagues report making a new version of such blocks that may prove practical in heat shields for space shuttles.