Robotics
Researchers have developed soft robotic devices driven by neuromuscular tissue that triggers when stimulated by light—bringing mechanical engineering one step closer to developing autonomous biobots.
Sep 16, 2019
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2003
Robotics
Wearing a flower brooch that blooms before your eyes sounds like magic. KAIST researchers have made it real with robotic muscles.
Aug 22, 2019
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93
Consumer & Gadgets
If there's one familiar sound whenever a volunteer tries out an interactive device that uses electrical muscle stimulation, it is probably laughter. Even for experienced users of the technology, the sensation of a machine ...
Jul 29, 2019
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15
Engineering
As a cucumber plant grows, it sprouts tightly coiled tendrils that seek out supports in order to pull the plant upward. This ensures the plant receives as much sunlight exposure as possible. Now, researchers at MIT have found ...
Jul 11, 2019
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196
Engineering
Putting "socks" on artificial muscles made from inexpensive materials helps them produce 40 times more flex than human muscle, a global research project has found, featuring researchers from the University of Wollongong (UOW) ...
Jul 11, 2019
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89
Engineering
Scientists at the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research (BDR) in Japan have developed the first microchip valve powered by living cells. Earthworm muscle tissue allowed for a high contractile force that could be sustained ...
Jul 09, 2019
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156
Robotics
The Houston Astros' José Altuve steps up to the plate on a 3-2 count, studies the pitcher and the situation, gets the go-ahead from third base, tracks the ball's release, swings ... and gets a single up the middle. Just ...
May 16, 2019
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378
Automotive
Countless people die every year in road accidents. To improve the safety of vehicle occupants, it has been customary for decades to carry out crash-tests using dummies. These crash-test dummies are increasingly getting virtual ...
May 02, 2019
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1
Robotics
A trio of researchers at the University of Bristol has found that adding a drop of silicone oil to oppositely charged ribbons significantly enhanced their ability to perform as self-zipping origami robots. In their paper ...
Dec 20, 2018 report
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78
Robotics
Could the answer to mobility problems one day be as easy as pulling on a pair of trousers? A research team led by Bristol University's Professor Jonathan Rossiter has recently unveiled a prototype pair of robotic trousers ...
Sep 14, 2018
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28
Robotics
Getting robots to do things isn't easy: usually scientists have to either explicitly program them or get them to understand how humans communicate via language.
Jun 20, 2018
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355
Robotics
The new field of biohybrid robotics involves the use of living tissue within robots, rather than just metal and plastic. Muscle is one potential key component of such robots, providing the driving force for movement and function. ...
May 30, 2018
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81
Robotics
An innovative, eel-like robot developed by engineers and marine biologists at the University of California can swim silently in salt water without an electric motor. Instead, the robot uses artificial muscles filled with ...
Apr 25, 2018
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49
Robotics
If Star Wars' R2-D2 is your idea of a robot, think again. Researchers led by a University of Houston engineer have reported a new class of soft robot, composed of ultrathin sensing, actuating electronics and temperature-sensitive ...
Apr 18, 2018
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37
Robotics
A team of researchers at Southeast University in Nanjing, China, has developed a heart-on-a-chip platform incorporating rat heart muscle cells, hydrogel and nanocrystals. In their paper published in the journal Science Robotics, ...
Apr 02, 2018 report
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151
Muscle (from Latin musculus, diminutive of mus "mouse") is the contractile tissue of the body and is derived from the mesodermal layer of embryonic germ cells. Muscle cells contain contractile filaments that move past each other and change the size of the cell. They are classified as skeletal, cardiac, or smooth muscles. Their function is to produce force and cause motion. Muscles can cause either locomotion of the organism itself or movement of internal organs. Cardiac and smooth muscle contraction occurs without conscious thought and is necessary for survival. Examples are the contraction of the heart and peristalsis which pushes food through the digestive system. Voluntary contraction of the skeletal muscles is used to move the body and can be finely controlled. Examples are movements of the eye, or gross movements like the quadriceps muscle of the thigh. There are two broad types of voluntary muscle fibers: slow twitch and fast twitch. Slow twitch fibers contract for long periods of time but with little force while fast twitch fibers contract quickly and powerfully but fatigue very rapidly.
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