Artificial Muscles Powered by Nothing but Water (MIT)
These pieces of what look like black paper writhing around on a table are, in a word, creepy. Surprisingly, however, they could lead the frontier of robotics into an era of self-operated muscles. The film is 20 micrometers thick and uses water vapor to change shape. This metamorphosis is actually very strong, and can lift over 10 times its own weight. The best part: It’s only source of energy is a small amount of water vapor.
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- New material harvests energy from water vapor (web.mit.edu)
