Navigation Links
UBC researchers invent tiny artificial muscles with the strength, flexibility of elephant trunk
Date:10/13/2011

xas at Dallas and then tested as an artificial muscle in Madden's lab at UBC. A chance discovery by collaborators from Wollongong showed the enormous twist developed by the device. Guided by theory at UBC and further experiments in Wollongong and Texas, the team was able to extract considerable torsion and power from the yarns.

The torsional rotation of helically wound muscles, such as those in the flagella of bacteria, has existed in nature for hundreds of millions of years. Many other natural appendages -- from the trunk of an elephant to octopus's powerful and limber tentacles also show how helically wound muscle fibers cause rotation by contracting against a boneless core.

The nanotube yarns are activated by charging them in a salt solution, much as a battery is charged. A breakthrough discovery came from former UBC PhD student Tissaphern Mirfakhrai now at Stanford who found that the deformation of the yarns is proportional to the size and number of ions inserted. A similar effect is seen in lithium ion battery electrodes used in portable electronic devices, but in yarns it is put to good use. The helical structure of the yarns makes them unwind as they accept charge and swell. They twist back up again when discharged.

"The discovery, characterization, and understanding of these high performance torsional motors show the power of international collaborations," says corresponding author Ray Baughman, Robert A. Welch Professor of Chemistry and director of the University of Texas at Dallas Alan G. MacDiarmid NanoTech Institute.


'/>"/>

Contact: lorraine.chan@ubc.ca
lorraine.chan@ubc.ca
604-822-2644
University of British Columbia
Source:Eurekalert

0

GOOD

Page: 1 2

Related biology technology :

1. Notre Dame researchers awarded millions to develop radically new computers
2. 1 room -- 63 different dust particles? Researchers aim to build dust library
3. Mirage-effect helps researchers hide objects
4. Boston College Researchers discover 2 early stages of carbon nanotube growth
5. Researchers use carbon nanotubes to make solar cells affordable, flexible
6. Roche Researchers Sequence Complete Genome of Cynomolgus Monkey and Develop Novel Gene Expression Microarray for Drug Safety Assessment
7. Slippery slope:Researchers take advice from a carnivorous plant
8. University of Western Ontario researchers investigate stress and breast cancer
9. Rice researchers power line-voltage light bulb with nanotube wire
10. Stevens researchers pioneer novel technique to make plasmonic nanogap arrays
11. High-Level Neurotech Summit Brings Companies, Researchers and Investors Together in Helsinki
Post Your Comments:
*Name:
*Comment:
*Email:
(Date:5/17/2013)... Frederick, MD (PRWEB) May 17, 2013 ... release of ezColony version 4.1, a versatile refinement ... world-class premier software solution, improves its advanced methodical ... animal facilities with ezColony 4.1. The network-based platform ... to conduct effective research. While continuing to emphasize ...
(Date:5/17/2013)... IAC Industries wants to share with you the ... to set up and furnish a research lab knowing that ... a year’s time. How does a company make choices in ... What is efficient and cost-effective? , The solution was ... The planners at DisperSol determined that the concept of modular ...
(Date:5/16/2013)... OH (PRWEB) May 16, 2013 The ... manufactured by Global Cooling, Inc., Athens, OH, USA, won ... 2013 by the International Society for Biological and Environmental ... The award, given to one product annually, recognizes the ... efficient ultra-low temperature freezer. The award was presented ...
(Date:5/16/2013)... Oven Industries, Inc. has been an industry ... sensors since 1964. Expertly designed, the proportional-integral-derivative PID ... applications. As one of the most commonly ... loop feedback system, which helps minimize errors. With three-term ... systematic process, using a control element, like a valve ...
Breaking Biology Technology:RURO Introduces ezColony 4.1 – The Versatile Transgenic Animal Colony Management Software 2New Downloadable Success Story: “How To Outfit a Dynamic Lab in Flux” 2Stirling Ultracold Ultra-Low Freezer Wins 2013 Outstanding New Product Award at International Biorepository Conference, Sydney, Australia 2New PID Temperature Controllers Announced by Oven Industries Inc. 2
... 28 Thermo Fisher,Scientific Inc. (NYSE: TMO ), the world ... conferences: -- Thomas Weisel Partners Healthcare Conference on Friday, Sept. ... the Four Seasons Hotel, Boston, Mass., -- Bear Stearns 20th ... 2007, at 10:30 a.m. (EST) at The Grand Hyatt Hotel, New ...
... With 3.8 Million Patients Under ... ... Accretive to Medco Shareholders in ... 2008, FRANKLIN LAKES, N.J. and WAKEFIELD, Mass., Aug. 28 ,Medco Health Solutions, ...
... and Preclinical-Stage Compounds ... in Merck KGaA ... drug discovery and development company, announced today that,it will collaborate ... discover new applications for drug candidates. KineMed,s,proprietary pathway-based drug discovery ...
Cached Biology Technology:Thermo Fisher Scientific to Present at Investor Conferences 2Medco Announces Agreement to Acquire Diabetes Care Leader PolyMedica in Transaction Valued at $1.5 Billion 2Medco Announces Agreement to Acquire Diabetes Care Leader PolyMedica in Transaction Valued at $1.5 Billion 3Medco Announces Agreement to Acquire Diabetes Care Leader PolyMedica in Transaction Valued at $1.5 Billion 4Medco Announces Agreement to Acquire Diabetes Care Leader PolyMedica in Transaction Valued at $1.5 Billion 5Medco Announces Agreement to Acquire Diabetes Care Leader PolyMedica in Transaction Valued at $1.5 Billion 6Medco Announces Agreement to Acquire Diabetes Care Leader PolyMedica in Transaction Valued at $1.5 Billion 7KineMed to Collaborate With Merck KgaA to Validate New Applications for Drug Development Candidates 2
(Date:5/17/2013)... 17, 2013, Shenzhen, China---- Why Tibetan antelope can ... Plateau? In a collaborative research published in ... and other institutes provide evidence that some genetic ... to harsh highland environments. The data in this ... genetic mechanisms and the biology of other ruminant ...
(Date:5/17/2013)... College study finds human-caused climate change may have ... contradicting a host of recent studies that predict ... , The findings, which appear in the journal ... for survival of a creature thought to be ... tropical cold-blooded animals, especially forest lizards, will be ...
(Date:5/17/2013)... An international team of scientists using a new ... inside a living frog embryo in greater detail than ... advance biological research and the search for new treatments ... Karlsruher Institut fr Technologie in Germany, in collaboration with ... Energy,s Argonne National Laboratory, released the most precise depiction ...
Breaking Biology News(10 mins):The genome sequence of Tibetan antelope sheds new light on high-altitude adaptation 2Climate change may have little impact on tropical lizards 2New X-ray method shows how frog embryos could help thwart disease 2
... General Hospital (MGH) researchers discovered that the spleen ... that could regenerate the insulin-producing islets of the,pancreas. ... of the,same team now report that these potential ... be present only during the embryonic,development of mammals.,The ...
... bat, yet their evolutionary history is largely unknown because of ... their origins and divergence. , Now, a research team including ... a paper in the Jan. 28 issue of the journal ... fill in many of the gaps. , Springer coauthors the ...
... Contrary to the results of a recent U.S. study, ... infection and a potentially life-threatening form of high blood ... The Journal of Infectious Diseases, now available online. , ... detect human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8), also known as the ...
Cached Biology News:Spleen may be source of versatile stem cells 2Spleen may be source of versatile stem cells 3Molecular biology fills gaps in knowledge of bat evolution 2Association of herpesvirus with lung disorder questioned 2
Mouse monoclonal to Casein Kinase 2 beta ( Abpromise for all tested applications). entrezGeneID: 1460 SwissProtID: P13862...
Alpha-2-antiplasmin precursor (Alpha-2-plasmin inhibitor) (Alpha-2-PI) (Alpha-2-AP). [Source:Uniprot/SWISSPROT;Acc:P08697] Antigen: Recombinant Protein Epitope Signature Tag (PrEST)....
... HDAC8 Regulation of gene expression ... as DNA methylation, ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling, ... which include the dynamic acetylation and ... residues present in the tail of ...
Mouse monoclonal antibody raised against a partial recombinant AAAS. NCBI Entrez Gene ID = AAAS...
Biology Products: