Our muscles get stronger when put under stress and now robot ones could do the same, thanks to a soft gel that becomes harder when exposed to vibration Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2268652-soft-gel-could-power-robot-muscles-that-grow-stronger-with-a-workout/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Tag: Muscles
Africa Declared Free of Wild Polio in ‘Milestone’
Africa has been declared free from wild polio by the independent body, the Africa Regional Certification Commission. From a report: Polio usually affects children under five, sometimes leading to irreversible paralysis. Death can occur when breathing muscles are affected. Twenty-five years ago thousands of children in Africa were paralysed by the virus. The disease is now only found in Afghanistan and…
Beetlebot carries heavy loads using alcohol-powered artificial muscles
One of the world’s smallest microrobots is able to carry 2.6 times its own body weight thanks to a muscular system powered by methanol Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2252233-beetlebot-carries-heavy-loads-using-alcohol-powered-artificial-muscles/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Scientists Make Precise Gene Edits To Mitochondrial DNA For First Time
A peculiar bacterial enzyme has allowed researchers to achieve what even the popular CRISPR-Cas9 genome-editing system couldn’t manage: targeted changes to the genomes of mitochondria, cells’ crucial energy-producing structures. From a report: The technique — which builds on a super-precise version of gene editing called base editing — could allow researchers to develop new ways to study, and perhaps even treat,…
How do our eyes move in perfect synchrony?
It’s thanks to a constantly improving alliance of neurons and muscles. Source: https://www.livescience.com/why-eyes-move-together.html
Robots with 3D-printed muscles are powered by the spines of rats
Robots made of 3D-printed muscle and rat spines could help us understand conditions like motor neurone disease and the technique may eventually be used to build prosthetic devices Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2241889-robots-with-3d-printed-muscles-are-powered-by-the-spines-of-rats/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Was this the ancestor of all animals?
Geologists say the worm-like creature – about the size of a grain of rice – is the 1st ancestor on the family tree that contains most animals today, including humans. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/ancestor-all-animals-australian-fossils…
Engineers Test a Powered ‘Ankle Exoskeleton’ To Make Running Easier
Engineers from Stanford University developed a motorized exoskeleton rig that attaches around the ankle and foot and found that it made running 15 percent easier. “They explained that when the exoskeleton’s motor is switched on, it reduces the energy cost of running and allows the user to run longer than they’re usually capable of,” reports Engadget. “The device can also boost…
Mental Health Tips for the COVID-19 Outbreak
Dr. Steve Joordens, a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto, Scarborough, regularly connects psychology to world events. Below, listen to the conversation or read the transcript, and hear Dr. Steve Joordens’s thoughts on: Tips to manage anxiety and fear around the new coronavirus pandemic How often you should check the news How parents […]
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Reddit’s Profane, Greedy Traders Are Shaking Up the Stock Market
Bloomberg’s Luka Kawa reports on the tips and tricks members of the r/wallstreetbets subreddit are using to push prices on the stock market, at least for the short term. Here’s an excerpt from the report: The do-it-yourself traders of r/WSB are waging a kind of guerrilla warfare in the markets, trying to exploit what they see as weaknesses in the system…