Number 211 (Story #2), January 19, 1995 by Phillip F. Schewe and Ben Stein IN PHOTOSTRICTIVE MATERIALS light can be turned directly into mechanical energy. At December's meeting of the Materials Research Society in Boston, Kenji Uhcino of Penn State reported work on a material called PLZT, so named because it contains atoms of lead, lanthanum, zirconium, and titanium in a crystalline array that harnesses both the photoelectric and piezoelectric effects. One goal is to create a communications device (a "photophone") that could use light to make sound directly. Working models tested so far are operating only in the lower end of the audible sound range. (Science, 16 December 1995.)