- Major Women’s Health Study Supports Hormone Replacement Therapy in Early Menopause
- Organic Walnuts Tied to Serious E. Coli Illnesses
- More Than Half of Cats on Farm Where Bird Flu Infected Cows Died After Drinking Milk
- Biden Administration Could Reclassify Marijuana as Less Risky Drug
- Americans of Pacific Island Ethnicity Have Up to Triple the Rate of Cancer Deaths
- How Anger Could Raise Your Heart Risks
- EPA Clamps Down on Deadly Toxin Found in Paint Strippers
- Popular Teens (Especially Girls) May Get Less Sleep
- Years Prior to Menopause Are Danger Zone for Depression
- School Entry Rules Boost Kids’ HPV Vaccination Rates
Scientists Use Fishing Line, Thread to Make Artificial Muscles
Fishing line and sewing thread can create powerful artificial muscles that could be used to help disabled people or to build incredibly strong robots, a new study says.
Compared to human muscle of the same weight and length, the artificial muscles can lift 100 times more weight and make 100 times more mechanical power, the international team of researchers claimed.
The artificial muscles — which are created by twisting and coiling high-strength polymer fishing line and thread — generate 7.1 horsepower per kilogram. That’s about the same mechanical power as a jet engine, according to the study published Feb. 21 in the journal Science.
Temperature changes power the muscles and these changes can be produced a number of ways: electrically, by the absorption of light or by the chemical reaction of fuels, the scientists said.
“The application opportunities for these polymer muscles are vast,” study corresponding author Ray Baughman, chair in chemistry at the University of Texas at Dallas and director of the NanoTech Institute, said in a university news release.
“Today’s most advanced humanoid robots, [artificial] limbs and wearable exoskeletons are limited by motors and hydraulic systems, whose size and weight restrict dexterity…,” among other things, he said.
Along with providing incredible strength in devices such as robots and exoskeletons, these artificial muscles could be used to improve the fine-movement capabilities of minimally invasive robotic microsurgery, the researchers said. In addition, they potentially could be used to power miniature “laboratories on a chip” and to relay the sense of touch from sensors on a robotic hand to a human hand.
More information
The U.S. National Library of Medicine has more about artificial limbs.
Source: HealthDay
Copyright © 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.