What if a box of IKEA furniture could save you the time and effort and put itself together? What if clothing could respond to human skin conditions to keep you cool, or even safe? It’s all within the realm of possibility with “adaptive materials.” Lining Yao, director of Carnegie Mellon’s Morphing Matter Lab joins Ira as she brings transformative fabric, self-folding furniture, even flat pasta, to life on stage at the Carnegie Library of Homestead, Pennsylvania.

See some of her materials in action.

[Forget small talk! These bots make good conversation.]

[Imagine a museum that could fit almost anywhere.]