While we are all familiar with information preserved on hard disks, DVDs, or paper, a vast array of the materials around us can store and recall memories—sometimes in surprising ways. From my lab's research, I will show a few ways that soft solids and fluidic systems can form detailed memories when they are deformed. Examining a system's capacity to remember reveals surprising connections among disparate forms of living and nonliving matter—and suggests possibilities for making materials more programmable, adaptable, and traceable.
