Want to swim with the fishes? New research unravels what makes fish fins so strong yet flexible at the same time.
Fish fins do not contain muscles, yet fish can change their shape with high precision and speed to produce large and complex hydrodynamic forces—a combination of high morphing efficiency and high flexural stiffness that is rare in modern morphing and robotic materials. These “flexo-morphing” capabilities are rare in modern morphing and robotic materials of human design. The thin rays that stiffen the fins and transmit actuation include mineral segments, a prominent feature whose mechanics and function are not fully understood.
Now, a group of scientists and engineers use mechanical modeling and mechanical testing on 3D-printed ray models to show that the function of the segmentation is to provide combinations of high flexural stiffness and high morphing amplitude that are critical to the performance of the fins and would not be possible with rays made of a continuous material.
Fish fin–inspired designs that combine very soft materials and very stiff segments can provide robotic materials with large morphing amplitudes and strong grasping forces.
Read the full article at: www.colorado.edu
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Participants in the trial must be between the ages of 18 and 50 and not diagnosed with HIV. Moderna is set to start human trials for its experimental mRNA HIV vaccine as early as Thursday, the first time such a trial has ever been conducted.
The big picture: “There’s a pressing need for new ways to prevent infection from viruses like HIV and influenza that conventional vaccines have struggled to address and to treat rare genetic diseases and cancers that kill millions each year,” Axios’ Alison Snyder writes. “Vaccines and therapies based on messenger RNA (mRNA) hold promise as a solution.”
Read the full article at: www.axios.com
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Could the very timing of a mission help shield astronauts from dangerous radiation?
Sending human travelers to Mars would require scientists and engineers to overcome a range of technological and safety obstacles. One of them is the grave risk posed by particle radiation from the sun, distant stars and galaxies.
Answering two key questions would go a long way toward overcoming that hurdle: Would particle radiation pose too grave a threat to human life throughout a round trip to the red planet? And, could the very timing of a mission to Mars help shield astronauts and the spacecraft from the radiation?
Read the full article at: newsroom.ucla.edu
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Researchers developed a new type of lithium-metal battery that reaches an extremely high energy density of 560 Wh/kg, with remarkable stability.
A new lithium metal battery developed by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the Helmholtz Institute Ulm (HIU) reaches an extremely high energy density of 560 Wh/kg, with remarkable stability.
Read the full article at: www.inceptivemind.com
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