Phase-Changing Material Created For Robots

rtoz writes In the movie Terminator 2, the shape-shifting T-1000 robot morphs into a liquid state to squeeze through tight spaces or to repair itself when harmed. Now a phase-changing material built from wax and foam, and capable of switching between hard and soft states, could allow even low-cost robots to perform the same feat. The material developed by MIT researchers could be used to build deformable surgical robots. The robots could move through the body to reach a particular point without damaging any of the organs or vessels along the way. The Robots built from this material could also be used in search-and-rescue operations to squeeze through rubble looking for survivors.

Comments

Deploy or die

[Anonymous Coward]

If I had a dime for every one these "researchers made the next big thing" articles I'd use it to fund a web start-up that tracks all these claims so I could watch the PR buzz fizzle into obscurity time after time. The tally so far: solar panels should be 1456% efficient, LEDs 124% efficient, batteries should outperform gas in every metric, the world should be filled nano-tube everything, and robots should be flying all around me at this instant.

What the headline should say is "University trolls for more funding..."