On the quest for miniaturization, scientists at the Center for Integrated Nanostructure Physics, within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS, South Korea), in collaboration with researchers from the University of Birmingham and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), develop credit card-thick, flat lenses with tunable features. These optical devices, made of graphene and a punctured gold surface, could become optical components for advanced applications, such as amplitude tunable lenses, lasers (i.e. vortex phase plates), and dynamic holography.

The technology of the future is set to be lighter, more flexible and incredibly durable. But which wonder materials will get us there? From science fiction to comic books, there have been plenty of wonder materials that promise the impossible. One example is adamantium, which is supposedly indestructible.