Snakeskin inspires new, friction-reducing material
A research team led by CU Boulder has designed a new kind of synthetic "skin" as slippery as the scales of a snake.
A research team led by CU Boulder has designed a new kind of synthetic "skin" as slippery as the scales of a snake.
Polymers
Mar 3, 2021
0
160
Plants and animals can rapidly respond to changes in their environment, such as a Venus flytrap snapping shut when a fly touches it. However, replicating similar actions in soft robots requires complex mechanics and sensors. ...
Materials Science
Feb 24, 2021
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127
UCLA materials scientists and their colleagues have developed a new method to make synthetic biomaterials that mimic the internal structure, stretchiness, strength and durability of tendons and other biological tissues.
Materials Science
Feb 24, 2021
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440
Stretchable electronic circuits are critical for soft robotics, wearable technologies, and biomedical applications. The current ways of making them, though, have limited their potential.
Materials Science
Feb 19, 2021
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201
If you watch the leaves of a plant long enough, you may see them shift and turn toward the sunlight through the day. It happens slowly, but surely.
Soft Matter
Feb 10, 2021
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541
A research team from the National University of Singapore (NUS), led by Assistant Professor Chen Po-Yen, has taken the first step towards improving the safety and precision of industrial robotic arms by developing a new range ...
Bio & Medicine
Dec 15, 2020
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23
Natural materials like skin, cartilage and tendons are tough enough to support our bodyweight and movements, yet flexible enough that they don't crack easily. Although we take these properties for granted, replicating this ...
Materials Science
Nov 19, 2020
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52
Researchers from North Carolina State University and Elon University have made artificial cilia, or hair-like structures, that can bend into new shapes in response to a magnetic field, then return to their original shape ...
Materials Science
May 26, 2020
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211
Soft materials, such as rubber or polymers that can endure drastic changes to their shape, are promising for applications where flexibility and shapeshifting abilities are paramount.
General Physics
Apr 17, 2020
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349
Marine biologists have adopted "soft robotic linguine fingers" as tools to conduct their undersea research. In a study appearing February 24 in the journal Current Biology, scientists found that jellyfish held by ultra-soft ...
Ecology
Feb 24, 2020
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52