Robots inspired by sea cucumbers turn from liquid into solid

Shape-shifting robots inspired by sea cucumbers can rapidly change between liquid and solid, offering the possibilities of breakthrough treatments in medicine, new research shows.

The miniature robots could be used in surgery and might change the face of engineering, researchers said.

Traditional robots are hard-bodied and stiff, while “soft” robots have so far been flexible but weak, and difficult to control.

The sea cucumber can transform itself from solid into a liquid. They liquefy at will to pour their bodies into tight spaces and solidify again to hide from predators.

“Giving robots the ability to switch between liquid and solid states endows them with more functionality,” said Chengfeng Pan, an engineer at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, who led the study.

Researchers put their robots through an obstacle course of mobility and shape-morphing tests in a study, which was published on Wednesday in the journal Matter.

The team created a new material — called the “magnetoactive solid-liquid phase transitional machine” — by embedding magnetic particles in gallium, a metal with a very low melting point of 29.8°C.

They have also tested the material’s mobility and strength in a variety of contexts.

The robots jumped over moats, climbed walls and split in half to co-operatively move other objects around before joining back together.

In one video, a robot shaped like a person liquefies to ooze through a grid before reforming.

“Now, we’re pushing this material system in more practical ways to solve some very specific medical and engineering problems,” Mr Pan said.

On the biomedical side, the team used the robots to remove a foreign object from a model stomach and to deliver drugs on-demand into stomach.

They also demonstrate how soldering robots can ooze into hard-to-reach circuits and the can be a mechanical “screw” for assembling parts in hard-to-reach spaces.

“Future work should further explore how these robots could be used within a biomedical context,” said senior author and mechanical engineer Carmel Majidi of Carnegie Mellon University.

“What we're showing are just one-off demonstrations, proofs of concept, but much more study will be required to delve into how this could actually be used for drug delivery or for removing foreign objects.”

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Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan

Director: Venkat Prabhu

Rating: 2/5

Who has lived at The Bishops Avenue?

George Sainsbury of the supermarket dynasty, sugar magnate William Park Lyle and actress Dame Gracie Fields were residents in the 1930s when the street was only known as ‘Millionaires’ Row’.
Then came the international super rich, including the last king of Greece, Constantine II, the Sultan of Brunei and Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal who was at one point ranked the third richest person in the world.
Turkish tycoon Halis Torprak sold his mansion for £50m in 2008 after spending just two days there. The House of Saud sold 10 properties on the road in 2013 for almost £80m.
Other residents have included Iraqi businessman Nemir Kirdar, singer Ariana Grande, holiday camp impresario Sir Billy Butlin, businessman Asil Nadir, Paul McCartney’s former wife Heather Mills.

Hunting park to luxury living

Land was originally the Bishop of London's hunting park, hence the name
The road was laid out in the mid 19th Century, meandering through woodland and farmland
Its earliest houses at the turn of the 20th Century were substantial detached properties with extensive grounds

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Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021

Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.

The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.

These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.

“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.

“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.

“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.

“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”

Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.

There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.

“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.

“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.

“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”