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An adhesive paste designed to mimic some properties of barnacle glue haemostatically seals tissues robustly in less than 15 s, independently of the rate of blood coagulation.

A polymer patch that rapidly and robustly adheres to diabetic wounds and contracts in a pre-programmed manner promotes wound closure and re-epithelialization, as shown in mouse and human skin, in mini-pigs and in humanized mice.

Soft hybrids that integrate hydrogels and elastomers can be used in applications, such as stretchable electronics and soft robotics, but usually have shortcomings. Here, Zhao and co-workers show a simple method of assembling hydrogel/elastomer hybrids with robust interfaces and functional microstructures.

A bi-continuous hydrogel prepared from phase-separated PEDOT:PSS and polyurethane is 3D printed into soft biolelectronic devices with high electrical conductivity, stretchability and toughness for long-term in vivo electrophysiological monitoring and stimulation.

Hydrogel actuators have been widely developed to be osmotic-driven but many are in fact only capable of producing low forces. Here, the authors developed high speed and high force hydrogel actuators capable of camouflage optically and sonically with low fatigue over multiple cycles.

Neural probes for experimental studies can cause tissue damage. Here the authors describe a probe incorporated with a hydrogel structure for adaptive bending stiffness to enable insertion to the rodent brain while minimising tissue damage.

A graphene nanocomposite hydrogel showing anisotropic swelling is used to realize an electrically conducting and removable bioadhesive that improves the mechanical and electrical integration of bioelectronics devices with wet dynamic tissues.

A new strong, biocompatible and biodegradable double-sided tape can adhere to wet tissues and devices through a mechanism involving rapid water removal from the surface, swift hydrogen and electrostatic interactions, and covalent bonding.

Conducting polymers are promising materials for diverse applications but the fabrication of conducting polymers mostly relies on conventional fabrication techniques. Here the authors introduce a high performance 3D printable conducting polymer ink to take full advantage of advanced 3D printing.

Hydrogels of conducting polymers provide an electrical interface with biological tissues for sensing and stimulation, but currently have compromised mechanical and electrical properties. Here, the authors show a simple method to achieve pure PEDOT:PSS hydrogels that exhibit superior mechanical and electrical properties, stability, and tunable swelling.

A study shows that implants with an adhesive implant–tissue interface mitigate the formation of a fibrous capsule when attached to various organs in mice, rats and pigs.

It is useful to be able to equip marine animals with sensors, but it can be challenging to attach these to soft marine organisms. Here, the authors use an adhesive hydrogel to achieve rapid attachment of sensors to marine life including jellyfish, squid and lobster.

Tissue adhesives have received significant interest for their clinical utility but are typically incompatible with advanced manufacturing methods. Here, the authors introduce a 3D printable tissue adhesive for the fabrication of patches and devices for diverse biomedical applications.

A learning-in-simulation framework for wearable robots uses dynamics-aware musculoskeletal and exoskeleton models and data-driven reinforcement learning to bridge the gap between simulation and reality without human experiments to assist versatile activities.

A dual-layer encapsulation approach provides physical containment of genetically modified bacteria (especially when combined with chemical containment) while also protecting them from environmental stressors and maintaining their sensing functions.

An elastic conductive ink — which is made of conductive fillers suspended in an emulsified elastomer matrix — can be used to print three-dimensional elastic conductors.

Programmed ferromagnetic domains are 3D-printed into soft materials capable of fast transformations between complex three-dimensional shapes via magnetic actuation.

High swelling ratio, speed and long term robustness tend not coexist in hydrogels which limits their use in devices. Here, the authors introduce a pufferfish-inspired hydrogel device ingested as a standard-sized pill, swells rapidly and maintains robustness under repeated mechanical loads in the stomach.

Hydrogels are one of the most promising materials to bridge the stark disparities between traditional machines and biological tissues for successful interfacing between humans and machines. This Review discusses the functional modes, design principles, and current and future applications of hydrogel interfaces for the merging of humans and machines.

A hydrogel-design strategy achieves transparent and conductive bonding of synthetic hydrogels to a variety of non-porous surfaces, with interfacial toughness values over 1,000 J m⁻².