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Bacteria Propel Themselves with Slime Jets
galactic_grub writes "Scientists have discovered that some bacteria propel themselves along using tiny jets of slime. According to this story on NewScientistTech, the researchers previously thought the slime was a lubricant. They believe the same technique could be used to move nano-devices around."
In any case, how would the nanobots produce the propellant fluid, they'd have to be able to consume something? Perhaps they're counting taking in and storing some available fluid while passing through, like in the human blood stream, or somesuch.
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Apparently, scientific progress goes "Ew."
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They believe the same technique could be used to move nano-devices around."
Would that really be the most efficient way of moving a nano-device? I doubt it. I think we'll see little sperm bots first.
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Gee, I thought it was just politicians...
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I think the implication of this are obvious. Let me be the first to say:
I, for one, welcome our Nickelodeon overlords.
"Self-propelled through slimy jets" is also part of the job credentials of any current and/or future RIAA president. And yes, many many bacteria have suffered and died in order to perfect this method of propulsion.
"Scientists have discovered that some bacteria propel themselves along using tiny jets of slime".
No - that has been known for a long time. This research mearly elucidates the mechanism. Which is nice. But, in addition to the slime nozzles at the back end, .
Did you know that at the front end Myxo bacteria have "grappling hooks" which that can extend and then retract? Search for pilus retraction...
Or that they are pack hunters? Or that they will commits suicide to save their buddies?
Myxobacteria - they're great!
In Soviet Russia, bacteria slimes you!
Actually, in Soviet Russia, I think the bacteria probably killed a lot of people. They don't have the best medical facilities over there.
I feel so dirty.
Shhhhh! We're already being replaced by mechanical penises. The last thing we need are mechanical sperm to completely remove us from the equation!
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Once they reduce everything to grey goo, they'll have plenty of fuel for their slime jets.
Err, tha'td be goo jets, I guess.
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I feel slimed.
I wondered how Peter Venkman and Igon used to move so fast.
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That's what I've been calling Southwest Airlines. Greyhound busses of the sky baby!
Amazing that bacteria can book a reservation on SouthWest with such tiny appendages.
And how do you distribute frequent flier miles through a colony of millions?
Doesnt that sound a bit too much?
The slime is probably composed almost entirely of proteins, carbohydrates and water, and it is probably about the same that covers many bacteria. (No idea about this specific one though, but since it has developed a propulsion system based on it, I would guess it is) And the slime ususally works as a glue, so it can stick to surfaces - Which also means it holds it back. So for this propulsion system to work, it needs to deliver quite a 'splat' so to say..
But hey, just guessing - Can anyone fill more out?
This may seem a very inefficient way to move about, but things work very differently on the lengthscale of bacteria.
For example, most moving bacteria use propellor-like objects (flagellae) to propel themselves, but the way they work is very different from propellors.
Propellors use Bernouilli's principle to create a pressure difference between the front and the rear of the propellor, thereby 'sucking' themselves forward.
Bacteria, because they're so small, live in a surrounding where water has an effective viscosity higher than molasses on our lengthscale (it has to do with a dimensionless number for friction in hydrodynamics called the Reynold's number, that scales with inverse length).
Bacteria have to push themselves forward in something that really doesn't want to move and creates a lot of friction; all kinds of movements that we would think of intuitively possible are impossible under these circumstances. For example, some hydrodynamics people talk about the 'scallop theorem', which states that at these conditions it's impossible something to move forward like a scallop: rapidly closing its shell and opening it again.
Most flagellae are either spiral structures or stiff rods that get swayed back and forth; none use Bernoulli's effect, but tend to make use of the high viscosity by pushing against the fluid.
These bacteria make a starch gel to propel themselves: the sugar concentration doesn't need to be very high to get a decent gel, and the speeds they obtain sound incredible (usually we're talking 10 microns per minute, not per second).
Make sure to tell the bacteria that, so they can un-evolve these clearly inferior mechanisms they've developed. What's the emoticon for rolling eyes?
Evolution presumes that they find them useful in the environment they are - or were - in.
As I stated, the mechanisms are still inside every human cell, you can even see them with a microscope in the brain.
But, if we're talking nanobots, we need to consider mobility and utility. How much should we devote to mobility, if a flagellum design is easier to maintain and adapt?
Perhaps if we were designing nanobots that worked in a specific environment, we might find slime propulsion is more effective in:
a. cost of transport in design payload;
b. cost of transport in materials requirements (e.g. slime used);
c. cost of transport in effective reuse of local materials (e.g. oil less effective use than coal in coal-rich environment).
But, given the size of the likely nanobots, I'm not convinced this is the case, especially based on the work in progress I've seen here at the UW in microbiology and related fields.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
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