The authors introduce a new class of electrically-actuated soft materials. Electro-active hydraulic solids (EAHSs) are comprised of numerous microscale phase change capsules embedded inside a conductive elastomer matrix which replicate traditional wax actuators in a massively parallel fashion. EAHS can generate forces and stress densities that exceed traditional electroactive actuators. For example, a 14 mm diameter 50 mm long cylinder can generate 4 500 N force and have over 3% strain. The authors describe a simple method for fabricating EAHS and demonstrate their compatibility with a wide range of manufacturing processes including additive manufacturing, subtractive manufacturing, and forming.

Concurrent advances in the programmable synthesis of nanostructured materials and additive threedimensional (3D) manufacturing have created a rich and exciting opportunity space to fabricate novel materials and devices. In particular, creating complex hierarchical device geometries from mesoporous materials presents several scientifically interesting and technologically relevant challenges. Here, we show how digital light processing of photoresponsive building block defined by an oxozirconium methacrylate cluster with 12 methacrylic acid ligands can be used to enable the creation of complex superstructures characterized by multilevel porous networks. Inspired by similarly complex 3D hierarchical mesoporous structures ubiquitous in nature, we demonstrated the fabrication of a 3D leaf as a proof of concept. This work demonstrates how exciting opportunity space emerging at the intersection of inorganic building blocks, mesoporous materials, and 3D digital light processing opens new pathways to create functional hierarchical superstructures and devices with complex geometries.

The Remote Occulter (Orbiting Starshade) is a proposed 100-meter class starshade working with a ground-based telescope, designed for visible-band imaging and spectroscopy of temperate planets around sun-like stars. With advanced adaptive optics and the largest telescopes like the 39 m ELT, it would enable the study of planetary systems and a wide variety of exoplanets. In this paper, we describe the geometrical constraints and establish which parts of the sky are observable.

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