A new generation of miniature biological robots is flexing its muscle.
Engineers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign demonstrated a class of walking “bio-bots” powered by muscle cells and controlled with electrical pulses, giving researchers unprecedented command over their function. The group published its work in the online early edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
“Biological actuation driven by cells is a fundamental need for any kind of biological machine you want to build,” said study leaderRashid Bashir, Abel Bliss Professor and head of bioengineering at the U. of I. “We’re trying to integrate these principles of engineering with biology in a way that can be used to design and develop biological machines and systems for environmental and medical applications. Biology is tremendously powerful, and if we can somehow learn to harness its advantages for useful applications, it could bring about a lot of great things.”
“It’s only natural that we would start from a bio-mimetic design principle, such as the native organization of the musculoskeletal system, as a jumping-off point,” said graduate student Caroline Cvetkovic, co-first author of the paper. “This work represents an important first step in the development and control of biological machines that can be stimulated, trained, or programmed to do work. It’s exciting to think that this system could eventually evolve into a generation of biological machines that could aid in drug delivery, surgical robotics, ‘smart’ implants, or mobile environmental analyzers, among countless other applications.”
Read more . . .
The Latest on: Biological robots
[google_news title=”” keyword=”Biological robots” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Biological robots
- Elon Musk: Advent Of "Superintelligence" Could Lead To End Of Humanityon March 28, 2024 at 4:20 am
Elon Musk, using a Starlink from his plane, addressed superintelligence and artificial intelligence in an interview with Dr. Peter H. Diamandis at the Abundance Summit. ELON MUSK: The advent of ...
- Elon Musk: Goods And Services Will Be Abundant In Such Quantity That They Will Be Available For Everyoneon March 27, 2024 at 5:01 pm
Then, you know, you can always restore that brain state into, a biological body or maybe a robot or something. And I want to emphasize again, it's like, you know, many years in the future, but but I ...
- ‘Robot dog’ takes bullets for police on Cape Codon March 27, 2024 at 3:51 pm
BOSTON — A robot dog took bullets during a tense, armed barricade situation on Cape Cod earlier this month, and police say the droid’s deployment helped to prevent injuries to human officers.
- ‘Robot dog’ takes bullets for police on Cape Cod, Massachusettson March 27, 2024 at 12:16 pm
A robot dog took bullets during a tense, armed barricade situation on Cape Cod earlier this month, and police say the droid’s deployment helped to prevent injuries to human officers. “The incident ...
- Get Ready for the Robotic Fish Revolutionon March 25, 2024 at 12:09 am
Human technology has long drawn inspiration from the natural world: The first airplanes were modeled after birds. The designer of Velcro was inspired by the irksome burrs he often had to pick off his ...
- How to choose a robot vacuum in 2024: Consider these 5 features before buyingon March 23, 2024 at 5:00 pm
All products featured here are independently selected by our editors and writers. If you buy something through links on our site, Mashable may earn an affiliate commission. Making the call to get ...
- Siblings Stolen at Birth in Chile — and Adopted by Same Virginia Family — Meet Biological Momon March 21, 2024 at 1:41 pm
Simon Bucher Sean Ours, 40, and Emily Ours Reid, 39, were illegally adopted as newborns in the 1980s, while their biological mother was told they had died in childbirth Connecting Roots ...
- Biological progress or bathtub brews? The state of US crop biologicals in 2024on March 21, 2024 at 10:29 am
For all their environmental promise, the biologicals sector faces ongoing challenges in 2024. The industry hopes to change that.
- Dutch tulip farm utilizes AI robot to slow the spread of plant diseaseon March 19, 2024 at 9:38 am
A high-tech robot, designed to combat disease in tulip fields, relies on artificial intelligence to identify and address sick flowers in the Netherlands. Equipped with cameras and AI algorithms ...
- A Chinese Humanoid Just Broke the Robot Speed Record—and Now It's a Race Against Timeon March 19, 2024 at 5:30 am
A new robot called H1, created by the Chinese company Unitree, just claimed the humanoid robot speed record of 3.3 meters per second, or roughly 7.4 mph (there are claims it even reached 11 mph). This ...
via Bing News