Millions of fish and marine wildlife are dying as a result of the massive oil spill off the Gulf Coast.
What if there were ways to lead fish away from such dangers and direct them to safer waters? It might be possible with the leadership of remote-controlled fish-like robots.
Maurizio Porfiri, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University, used smart materials to create a robot that would be accepted by real fish as an equal and a leader. The new materials included “ionic polymers that swell and shrink in response to electrical stimulation from a battery, propelling the robot,” reports NYU Poly.
Real fish leaders beat their tails faster and accelerate to gain attention. They also tend to be larger than their peers. Taking these factors into account, Porfiri created a robot that moves silently and with the same movements of real fish. However, it can’t yet dive or surface and it still requires batteries.
The goal is for these fish-like robots to lead real fish away from power plant turbines and similar dangers. The same robot technology might be applied to birds, to direct them to safe wintering grounds, or even humans, to lead them to safe areas in the event of a fire or other disaster.
In other fishy news, a new blimp designed in Switzerland mimics the graceful movements of the rainbow trout. Using no engines or propellers, the Airfish is able to “swim” through the sky, keeping itself aloft with acrylic polymers connected by carbon electrodes. These materials deliver a charge that causes the blimp to expand and contract in a fish-like shimmy. Now that’s one divine dirigible.
In the first bit of optimistic news we’ve heard in a while about the tragic BP oil spill, a chemical engineer from the University of Pittsburgh might have a simple solution to help clean up the Gulf Coast waters.
Di Gao, a chemical and petroleum engineering professor at the Swanson School of Engineering, has created a polymer-coated cotton filtration system that efficiently separates oil from water. The coating is specially formulated to attract water and repel oil. Watch him test the system below:
To apply his solution to the oil spill cleanup, Gao “envisions large, trough-shaped filters that could be dragged through the water to capture surface oil.” We hope his plan soon becomes a reality.
Not everyone thinks that getting a tattoo is cool. But a tattoo that can keep you healthy sounds pretty awesome.
Designed for diabetics, tattoos using a nanoparticle ink created by MIT researchers monitor the level of glucose in the bloodstream.
For diabetics (who make up about 2.8% of the population worldwide), continuously keeping an eye on their blood sugar level is important because they could miss the moment when their levels start to change, such as after eating.
Typically, diabetics need to prick their fingers several times a day in order to monitor blood sugar levels. This nanoparticle ink, however, is the first safe method that can monitor glucose levels throughout the day and over an extended period of time without any need to pierce the skin.
The ink was created by wrapping nanotubes in a glucose-sensitive polymer. Once injected beneath the skin, the nano-ink fluoresces when exposed to glucose. Individuals would wear a bracelet to provide near-infrared light to detect and analyze the fluorescing, presenting a simple readout of the blood sugar level (like a wristwatch).
Best of all, the nano-ink fades away after six months so the tattoo is not permanent! People would be able to choose a new design when they need to be re-injected.
Texting, talking on the phone, and eating are all dangerous distractions while driving. Every year, 37,000 peoplein the United States are killed by traffic accidents, and 90 percent are a result of driver error.
That is why Volvo Car Corp. is testing an in-car system that can sense an approaching pedestrian and brake automatically if the driver does not.
The system uses sensorsbased on cameras, radar, and lasers, and alerts the driver with flashing red lights and beeping sounds that it is braking toprevent a crash.
The sensors not onlyavoid collisions, but also keep cars at a safe distance from the vehicles in front of them. They even help drivers with parking.
This technology may pave the way for cars to become completely autonomous and not need a driver at all. Imagine being able to work, read, watch movies, or sleep while your car drives for you.
If cars become fully independent and no longer require someone behind the wheel, the goal would be a collision-free traffic system. The main question is: will drivers let the machines take over or will they betoo nervous to take their hands off the wheel?
I decided to become an engineer because as a kid I was always curious about how the world worked. Why did the car move forward when you pushed the gas pedal? Why did the lights turn on when you flipped a switch? I also always loved building and experimenting with things.
It seemed natural to pursue engineering. I received my B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Bucknell University in 2007, and am currently a graduate student at the Harvard Microrobotics Lab.
We work on building biologically-inspiredrobots thesize of insects to do things that are too dangerous or risky for people to do. Because they’re so small, these robots can fit into small, cramped spaces where larger robots or people can’t go, and can help out in dangerous situations: for example, helping rescue workers search for people that are trapped in collapsed buildings after an earthquake.
The work is very rewarding because it could have a direct impact on saving human lives. I also get to do a lot of work talking about our research to school kids and families, and it’s great to see people who aren’t directly involved in engineering get excited about what we do.
My current goal is to finish my Ph.D. at Harvard and continue to work on robotics-related outreach, to help get kids excited about science and engineering.
