MIT News November 7, 2019 In a factory or warehouse the robots have a harder time winding through narrow spaces to carry out tasks such as reaching for a product at the back of a cluttered shelf etc. Engineers at MIT have developed a robot designed to extend a chain-like appendage flexible enough to twist and turn in any necessary configuration, yet rigid enough to support heavy loads or apply torque to assemble parts in tight spaces. When the task is complete, the robot can retract the appendage and extend it again, at a different length and shape, to suit […]
Tag Archives: Biomimetics
Scientists Built an ‘Artificial Leaf’ That Uses Sunlight to Produce Clean Synthetic Fuel
Science Alert October 26, 2019 Researchers in the UK have developed a leaf that mimics the photosynthesis as in plants, combining incoming light, water and carbon dioxide with perovskite as a catalyst which produces hydrogen and carbon monoxide to make syngas. According to the researchers, while the efficiency of the machine is low now, it should be possible to improve that with the unique combination of materials and catalysts. This technology is not limited for use in warm countries, or only operating the process during the summer months. It can be used from dawn until dusk, anywhere in the world. […]
Pearls: New light on enhancing lightweight armor for soldiers
Science Daily September 16, 2019 The bulk of the material created by researchers at SUNY, Buffalo, is ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene, or UHMWPE, which is used to make products like artificial hips and guitar picks. Their design is based on the mother of pearl, which mollusks create by arranging a form of calcium carbonate into a structure that resembles interlocking bricks. Like mother of pearl, the researchers designed the material to have an extremely tough outer shell with a more flexible inner backing that is capable of deforming and absorbing projectiles. The material is stiff, strong, tough and has high […]
Scientists develop DNA microcapsules with built-in ion channels
Science Daily September 18, 2019 By utilising DNA nanotechnology, a team of researchers in Japan designed DNA nanoplates as a nanopore device for ion transportation and stabilised the oil–water interface. Microscopic examination revealed the microcapsule formed by the accumulation of amphiphilic DNA nanoplates at the oil–water interface. Ion current measurements revealed the nanoplate pores functioned as channel to transport ions. These findings provide a general strategy for the programmable design of microcapsules to engineer artificial cells and molecular robots. Such systems could be used to develop artificial neural networks…read more. TECHINCAL ARTICLE
Mimicking squid skin to improve thermoregulating blankets
Physics World May 2, 2019 Squid skin contains embedded chromatophore organs that are packed with pigment granules. These cells contract and expand thereby changing the wavelengths of light they absorb and reflect. Inspired by the squid skin a team of researchers in the US (UC Irvine, industry) designed a composite thermoregulatory material made up of a soft and stretchable infrared-transparent polymer matrix covered with an array of infrared-deflecting metal domains stably anchored within the matrix. In the relaxed state, the materials reflect nearly all incoming infrared radiation. When stretched, however, the anchored metal domains move apart and uncover parts of […]
Using DNA templates to harness the sun’s energy
Science Daily April 25, 2019 A team of researchers in the US (Arizona State University, University of New Mexico) reports significant progress in optimizing systems that mimic the first stage of photosynthesis. In previous the team demonstrated the utility of DNA to serve as a programmable template for aggregating dyes. To build upon these findings, they will use the photonic principles that underlie natural light harvesting complexes to construct programmable structures based on DNA self-assembly, which provides the flexible platform necessary for the design and development of complex molecular photonic systems. Using DNA architectures as a template, the researchers were able […]
Bionics: Electric view in murky waters
Science Daily April 9, 2019 African Elephantnose fish use two different types of electro-receptors for active electrolocation. One only measures the intensity of the signal, the other the waveform of the pulse. Researchers in Germany showed that the fish uses the ratio of the two readings to identify its prey. This creates “electric colors” analogous to visual colors perceived by the human eye, but through electrical signals instead of visible light. They introduced an image cue, called the ‘electric outline’, which provided information resembling a target’s optical contour. The results indicate that bio-inspired electric imaging principles provide promising cues for […]
‘Biological bandage’ could help heal wounds
Nanowerk March 28, 2019 Fibrinogen is a blood protein which through self-organization process turns dissolved proteins into ultrafine fibers that then combine to form tissue. Researchers in Germany introduced a novel biofabrication technique to prepare three-dimensional, nanofibrous fibrinogen scaffolds by salt-induced self-assembly. They were able to fabricate either free-standing or immobilized fibrinogen scaffolds on demand by tailoring the underlying substrate material and adding a fixation and washing procedure after the fiber assembly. Thickness can be adjusted by altering the salt concentration. The possibility to choose between free-standing and immobilized scaffolds makes the process attractive for the preparation of versatile tissue […]
NUS researchers create water-resistant electronic skin with self-healing abilities
Eurekalert March 18, 2019 An international team of researchers (China Singapore) has developed a material inspired by jellyfish. It is composed of a fluorocarbon elastomer and a fluorine-rich ionic liquid, has an ionic conductivity that can be tuned to as high as 10−3 S cm−1 and can withstand strains as high as 2,000%. Owing to ion–dipole interactions, it offers fast and repeatable electro-mechanical self-healing in wet, acidic and alkali environments. It can be printed into soft and pliable ionic circuit boards and touch, pressure and strain sensors. The material has applications in aquatic soft robots and water-resistant human–machine interfaces…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
One device, many frequencies: Researchers create a unique, tiny resonator
Science Daily March 5, 2019 A typical resonator in an electronic device responds to one signal with one corresponding frequency. An international team of researchers (USA – Argonne National Laboratory, Michigan State University, Florida Institute of Technology, Israel, Sweden) has developed and demonstrated a nonlinear micromechanical resonator which vibrates with a spectrum consisting of multiple frequencies evenly spaced due to the nonlinear mode coupling, in spite of the fact that it is driven by a single frequency. The novel behavior results from a saddle node on an invariant circle (SNIC) bifurcation. The resonator is an ideal test bed to study […]