One of the bigger fishes in the world of materials, or better polymers, is Bayer MaterialScience who updates us today with the fourth issue of "The Fascinating World of Polymers", accordingly their flagship publication available in German, English, Spanish and Chinese.

The importance of designers for the future of their polymers is clearly demonstrated with the results of this year's VisionWorks Award, where young designers are inspiring the development tomorrow's materials through future scenarios.

For instance, the "pumpboard" by Maciej Puzon demonstrates the use of a tear-resistant skin which can be inflated with compressed air to create a rigid riding vehicle. By letting the air out, the pumpboard can be rolled up as a compact portable.

The next page we find Krystian Majewski's "Delto", a spiderman-like facade climbing concept to solve the traffic jams of tomorrow.

Feasible or not, we all know a little bit of fiction won't harm the world of materials science. Read more about the visionary concepts for the year 2020 in the latest VisionWorks publication as download (pdf) here - or enjoy the online version here