Contemporary Polymer Chemistry [work]

Consider a hydrogel—a network of polymer chains that can hold vast amounts of water. In the past, a hydrogel was just a sponge. Today, scientists can design hydrogels that swell or shrink in response to temperature or pH levels. This technology is currently being used to create contact lenses that release glaucoma medication slowly over time, eliminating the need for daily eye drops.

: This emerging 3D printing technique uses dual-wavelength photochemistry to print complex polymer structures with extreme precision and without the need for support scaffolds. The Shift Toward Sustainability and Circularity contemporary polymer chemistry

Aris watched on a satellite feed as Silas Vane walked into the middle of the Golden Gate Bridge at rush hour. He stood there, arms wide, as cars piled into him. They didn’t crash. They stuck. Metal crumpled and softened like taffy, then flowed up his legs, his torso, his face. Within an hour, Silas was no longer a man. He was a fifty-foot arch of chrome and flesh and asphalt, glistening with the amber sheen of Anastasis-1. And from that arch, tendrils stretched out like roots, crawling across the bay towards San Francisco. Consider a hydrogel—a network of polymer chains that