NASA is about to change the helicopter blade as we know it.  First off, you need to understand that the current blade setup is very inefficient.  Each blade, as it passes through air, creates turbulence which for the lack of better words is a challenge for the following blade.  As a result, fuel efficiency is cut as is power and myriad of other things.  To quell this problem NASA embedded piezoelectric actuators – material that shape shifts when infused with electricity – which is just a complicated way of saying that the blades are able to adapt to a given set of instructions.  End result, assuming they’re programmed with the correct frequency, NASA’s new helicopter blades will be able to cancel out the interference and result in a more efficient helicopter.

[FastCompany]