Artificial Muscles Pack a Mean Punch 139
sciencehabit writes "Here's a twist: Scientists have designed a flexible, yarn-like artificial muscle that can also pack a punch. It can contract in 25 milliseconds—a fraction of the time it takes to blink an eye—and can generate power 85 times as great as a similarly sized human muscle. The new muscles are made of carbon nanotubes filled with paraffin wax that can twist or stretch in response to heat or electricity. When the temperature rises, the wax melts and forces the nanotubes to contract. Such artificial muscles, the researchers say, could power smart materials, sensors, robots, and even devices inside the human body."
All part of my Plan (Score:5, Funny)
Ah. Excellent, I have been intentionally not developing real muscles for years so I would have room for the artificial ones.
Who's sorry now dad?!
Yam-like? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:mechwarrior (Score:5, Funny)
You've got a great point there. While the numbers are impressive (85 times more powerful?), the heating and cooling systems would have to be pretty efficient for it to be useful. The article also doesn't say how long it takes the fibers to recharge between twitches. Still, I think it's exciting, but that might just be because I'm writing a mechwarrior story with artificial muscles :)
You have artificial muscles? Does Lance know about this?