WorldChanging has a couple of interesting articles on the choice of plastics and metals in product design.
Update: fixed broken link (thanks Diede!)
Tag » materials
How to make foil, an interesting video.
Core77 has a great gallery from the Material Trends 2006 conference.
Screen (third product, click video) is a cool solar ventilation prototype. The brilliantly simple design relies on heat-sensitive material to curl up and expose air vents.
Aerogel is the lightest solid known to man, and has lots of other cool properties to boot.
Core77 showcases lots of interesting materials in this photo gallery about the Material Vision 2005 conference.
Graphic Concrete allows precise etching of concrete surfaces. Lots of potential for architects.
Very cool material that is flexible at rest but rigidifies on impact.
