Honda 18321-hn1-000 Protector, Ex. Pipe on 2040-parts.com

Price Announced For Super-Frugal Hybrid S-Class

MERCEDES-BENZ has revealed prices for its high-tech S-Class plug-in hybrid model. The car, which boasts 100.9mpg and a 65g/km CO2 rating, will cost from £87,965 when it hits the showrooms later this month. The car is aimed at buyers seeking to combine limousine space with city car running costs.

2011 Ford Mondeo: Moscow debut

The 2011 tweaked and tucked Ford Mondeo Ford have given the Mondeo a tweak or two to keep it fresh and have decided the ideal place to debut it is at the Moscow Motor Show in August. They’ve also sent us pictures so we can have a look at the cosmetic changes for the first time. We’ve covered all the news on the 2011 Mondeo’s engine upgrades – the 2.0 litre EcoBoost boasts and the three flavours of 2.0 litre Duratorq TDCi – and the new PowerShift six-speed, double-wet-clutch ‘box, so what is the Blue Oval offering up in the way of cosmetic changes?

MIT develops self-transforming materials that behave 'like robots without robots'

A cross-disciplinary research lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has developed a suite of programmable materials, including carbon fiber, printed wood grain, textile composites, rubbers and plastics, that self-transform when exposed to an external stimulus. Director of the Self-Assembly Lab, Skylar Tibbits, presented a TED talk on 4D printing in 2013, where he demonstrated how a flat sheet of material could effectively build itself when exposed to water, like a robot without a robot. Following positive feedback from industries including aviation, automotive and manufacturing, his lab has been working on developing materials that change according to different activation sources, including heat, light, and air pressure, in addition to water – all of which have automotive relevance.