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Springy Nanotubes Could Make Artificial Muscles

Posted by kdawson on from the strong-like-bull dept.

moon_monkey writes "Scientists have discovered that carbon nanotubes have remarkable springy properties, which could make them ideal for use in artificial muscles. Currently, electroactive polymers are most commonly used to make artificial muscles, but these lack mechanical robustness. Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute tested the nanotubes by repeatedly squashing them between metal plates. The work is reported in Nature Nanotechnology."

2 of 70 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Grow muscle? by iktos · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What "destination body"? This is for machines.

  2. Re:Grow muscle? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    There are a few reasons. One is the fact that American researchers still have a hard time doing proper stem cell work, so creating new organs is not such a great line of study. Another is potential rejection of foreign tissue.

    A third is the fact that the people working on this are not in the field of direct tissue engineering (yeah, I am at RPI typing this, I am down the hall from a bunch of the people who wrote the paper). They are mostly Materials Engineers, they are working within their area of study.

    Actually, I think I saw them running the test... Not quite as exciting in person, you need some imagination to turn their research into artificial muscles. That being said, it does have some nice properties that I can see aiding in such an endeavor.