A shielding layer can do a lot of jobs badly if you ask too much of it. It can block electromagnetic interference but not neutrons. It can stop radiation but add too much bulk. Lastly, it can survive heat yet fail when bent, stretched, or shaped around real hardware. That tradeoff has become harder to ignore as spacecraft, medical systems, and advanced electronics move into harsher environments. In the new work, a team at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology, or KIST, says it has built a single material that tackles several of those demands at once. The result is a thin, flexible, 3D-printable composite that can shield both electromagnetic waves and neutron radiation. The research was led by Dr. Joo Yong-ho at KIST’s Extreme Environment Shielding Materials Research Center. The material combines single-walled carbon nanotubes, known as SWCNTs, with boron nitride nanotubes, or BNNTs, inside a polydimethylsiloxane, or PDMS, polymer matrix. What makes the design stand out is not just the ingredient list. It is the way the nanotubes assemble. Overview of 3D-printed …