Nanoparticle Disguised as a Blood Cell Fights Bacterial Infections
The “nanosponges” work by targeting so-called pore-forming toxins, which kill cells by poking holes in them.
One of the most common classes of protein toxins in nature, pore-forming toxins are secreted by many types of bacteria, including Staphylococcus aureus, of which antibiotic-resistant strains, called MRSA, are endemic in hospitals worldwide and cause tens of thousands of deaths annually. They are also present in many types of animal venom.
There are a range of existing therapies designed to target the molecular structure of pore-forming toxins and disable their cell-killing functions. But they must be customized for different diseases and conditions, and there are over 80 families of these harmful proteins, each with a different structure.
Using the new nanosponge therapy, says Zhang, “we can neutralize every single one, regardless of their molecular structure.”
Zhang and his colleagues wrapped real red blood cell membranes around biocompatible polymeric nanoparticles. A single red blood cell supplies enough membrane material to produce over 3,000 nanosponges, each around 85 nanometers (a nanometer is a billionth of a meter) in diameter.
Since red blood cells are a primary target of pore-forming toxins, the nanosponges act as decoys once in the bloodstream, absorbing the damaging proteins and neutralizing their toxicity. And because they are so small, the nanosponges will vastly outnumber the real red blood cells in the system, says Zhang. This means they have a much higher chance of interacting with and absorbing toxins, and thus can divert the toxins away from their natural targets.
Scientists Develop Robotic Bat Wing to Study Aerodynamics
For some time, engineers have puzzled over how bats could generate so much lift and so little drag, and how they could seem to do it while using less energy than even more specialized flyers like moths or birds.
Wind tunnel experiments offered insight, implicating the leathery skin that stretches between the wing’s four primary fingers. The soft wing material allows the bat to fold the wing and spill air even more effectively than a bird, on a given upstroke. This means that the lift generated in the downstroke, itself augmented by using the fingers to cup the air, won’t be cancelled out when the wing comes back up.
This week, a team of researchers decided to ditch the unreliable little creatures in favor of an automated solution… Brown University scientists built a mechanical wing to precisely mimic the structure and range of motion of the real thing, and to measure the effects of tiny changes in those motions. “We can’t ask a bat to flap at a frequency of eight hertz then raise it to nine hertz so we can see what difference that makes,” Bahlman said. “They don’t really cooperate that way.”
(via Robot bat wing reveals how mammals took flight and beat birds at their own game | ExtremeTech)
“Zombie” Cells, Embalmed in Silica, The Nanoscale Fabricators of the Future
Right now, it’s very challenging for researchers to build structures at the nanometer scale. But, think for a minute if we don’t need to build these components. Instead, researchers could find cells that possess the right machinery, and then use them as a mold to copy the part. In the future, using chemistry or surface patterning, they may even be able to tell cells to form whatever shape they need.
The construction process is relatively simple: Take some free-floating mammalian cells, put them in a petri dish and add silicic acid. The silicic acid, for reasons still partially unclear, enters without clogging and in effect embalms every organelle in the cell from the micro- to the nanometer scale.
The silica forms a kind of permeable armor around the protein of the living cell, allowing researchers to use the cell as a catalyst at temperatures and pressures undreamed of by nature.
(Zombie Replicants to Outperform the Living via uncannytech)
Researchers Mimic Cellular Structure of Plants to Nanoengineer Better Electrode
Essentially a network of tiny wires, it features a larger surface area than flat electrodes, giving it the leverage it needs to convert more electricity in a smaller form factor. This could lead to cheaper cell production and good things for the future of green energy. “This novel electrode coating technique has applications for fuel cells in the newest generation of hybrid cars, photovoltaic cells, rechargeable batteries or battery production for a wide range of green technologies,” said the university’s Dr. Adam Squires.
Nanowire Networks from Adam Squires on Vimeo.
(via Nature-inspired nano-material builds a better electrode, points to greener future (video))
Japanese Roboticists Build a Headless Twelve-Year-Old Boy
Researchers at the University of Tokyo have been building a humanoid robot called Kenshirothat moves around with muscles that work with small pulleys.
Initially developed as a scrawny kid-bot in 2001, Kenshiro has been packing on muscle mass. With a total of 70 degrees of freedom, or axes of motion, it now has 160 muscles, with 22 in its neck, 12 in its shoulders, 76 in its abdomen, and 50 in its legs.
But it’s still designed to mimic the body of a 12-year-old Japanese male, standing 5 feet and 2 inches and weighing 110 pounds. It also has a human-like ribcage, pelvis, and spine made of aluminum.
(via Headless Kenshiro muscle-bot gets ripped at the gym | Crave - CNET)
Korean Roboticists Use Metamaterials to Muscle Tiny Robot That Jumps Like a Flea
To put a spring in their robot’s step, Minkyun Noh and colleagues at Seoul National University in South Korea turned to a shape memory alloy called nitinol. Such alloys have crystalline structures that allow them to flip between two stable positions when heated, or when an electric current passes through them.
The team built three springs out of nitinol that fold and lock in the same way as a flea’s leg does. By tethering their prototype to a power supply they were able get it to jump up to 60 centimetres - 30 times the robot’s own length.
Their next step is to work out how to give their prototype an on-board power supply and keep the leaping robot upright during flight and on landing. “Getting the power supply and electronics on-board is a challenge due to the light weight of the robot,” says Noh.
(via Flea-like robot takes giant leap in bot locomotion - tech - 31 October 2012 - New Scientist)
Biomimetic Robot Legs Not Only Look Like Human Legs, They Work Like Them Too
“Our robot, named Achilles, is the first to walk in a biologically accurate way. That means it doesn’t just move like a person, but also sends commands to the legs like the human nervous system does.
“Each leg has eight muscles—Kevlar straps attached to a motor on one end and to the plastic skeleton on the other. As the motor turns, it pulls the strap, mimicking the way our muscles contract.
“Some of Achilles’ muscles extend from the hip or thigh to the lower leg so they can project forces all the way down the limb. This allows us to put most of the motors in the hips and thighs. Placing them up high keeps the lower leg light, so that it can swing quickly like a human’s lower leg.
“In people, neurons in the spinal column send out rhythmic signals that control our legs. It’s like a metronome, and sensory feedback from the legs alters the pace. Your brain can step in to make corrections, but it doesn’t explicitly control every muscle, which is essentially why you can walk without thinking about it.
“For our robot, a computer program running off an external PC controls movement in a similar way. With each step, the computer sends a signal to flex one hip muscle and extend the other. The computer changes the timing of those signals based on feedback from the legs’ load and angle sensors. A similar control system handles the lower muscles.”
(via Rough Sketch: “We Made a Robot That Moves Like a Person” | Popular Science)
English Scientists Modelling Bee Brain to Build Autonomous Robot Bees
Scientists at the Universities of Sheffield and Sussex are embarking on an ambitious project to produce the first accurate computer models of a honeybee brain in a bid to advance our understanding of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and how animals think.
The team will build models of the systems in the brain that govern a honeybee’s vision and sense of smell. Using this information, the researchers aim to create the first flying robot able to sense and act as autonomously as a bee, rather than just carry out a pre-programmed set of instructions.
(via ‘Green Brain’ project to create autonomous flying robot with honeybee brain | KurzweilAI)
MIT Researchers Modify Skeletal Muscles to Respond to Light, Key Precursor for Muscle-Powered Robots
This is the first time tough, powerful skeletal muscle has been modified to react to light. Optogenetics researchers have done it with cardiac cells, which are already primed to beat on their own — now skeletal muscle, which normally requires some outside stimulus, can contract and expand at the command of light bursts.
Harry Asada, an engineering professor at MIT, said it’s more effective and less bulky than stimulating muscle with electrodes, especially for a robotics system where light weight and mobility are key.
Optogenetics entails introducing new genes into cells that make them react to a pulse of light, usually short bursts of laser light. Asada’s team worked with myoblasts, cultures of skeletal muscle cells, to express a light-activated protein. They combined several myoblasts into long muscle fibers and exposed them to 20-millisecond pulses of blue light.
In the video below, the blue dot represents the pulses, and you can see the fibers contract in response. A targeted burst of light makes one fiber contract, while a more diffuse beam can make the whole sheet move.
What’s more, the engineered muscle is pretty tough — to test its force, the team attached strips of muscle fiber to two tiny flexible posts inside a microwell. As the fibers contract, they pul the posts together, allowing the researchers to calculate its force. This could even be used as an artificial muscle gym, flexing the fibers to keep them in top shape.
The goal is to use strips of engineered muscle fibers to build flexible, realistic robots, which may swim inside the body’s blood vessels or run across a room. “With bio-inspired designs, biology is a metaphor, and robotics is the tool to make it happen,” Asada said. “With bio-integrated designs, biology provides the materials, not just the metaphor.
(via Light-Activated Muscle Could Make Robots Move Like Real Creatures | Popular Science)
Airbus Concept Video for the Airliner Cabin Of The Future
Based on extensive research into the way the world’s population is changing, the Airbus Concept Cabin illustrates what the future of flight might look like from the passengers’ perspective. Inspired by nature - and designed to protect it - aircraft cabins of the future will be customised to the needs of individual passengers.
The Concept Cabin doesn’t conform to the traditional cabin classes found in today’s commercial aircraft. First, Business and Economy class are replaced by zones that target more individual needs like relaxing, playing games, interacting with other passengers or holding business meetings with people on the ground. The cabin’s bionic structure and responsive membrane combines panoramic views with an integrated neural network pulsing through it, which can identify and respond to the specific needs of each passenger. And the fittings and furnishings will take care of their own cleaning and repairs thanks to innovations inspired by nature, like dirt repellent coatings and self healing covers.
By offering different levels of experience within each zone, airlines would be able to achieve the price differential they need to operate a successful business, give more people access to the benefits of air travel and still look after the environment.
(via The Airbus Concept cabin | Airbus, a leading aircraft manufacturer)
