Engineers at the University of Michigan tested whether traditional woven basket structures could be useful in modern materials. They built small woven units from flat ribbons of Mylar, 10 millimetres wide and two-tenths of a millimetre thick, and compared them with continuous, non-woven containers of the same shape and material. The woven containers had similar stiffness and returned to their original shape after being bent or twisted. In tests of compression and twisting, the woven box could still bear a load when the continuous sheet could not. The team suggests applications such as damage-resistant tiny robots and protective woven clothing.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.