Microrobots learn from ciliates
Thursday, February 25, 2016 - 15:00
in Biology & Nature
Ciliates can do amazing things: Being so tiny, the water in which they live is like thick honey to these microorganisms. In spite of this, however, they are able to self-propel through water by the synchronized movement of thousands of extremely thin filaments on their outer skin, called cilia. Now researchers report that they have created a swimming microrobot formed from liquid-crystal elastomers, which is driven by a light-induced peristaltic motion.