by Meghna Kumar

In the information age, scientists are constantly discovering new devices and techniques to make our lives easier. One of the latest discoveries from the University of Texas at Dallas is an artificial muscle made out of nylon and polyethylene, materials so ubiquitous they can be found in a fishing hook. Producing the muscle is also a very uncomplicated process. The “muscle,” which is comprised of high-strength polymer fibers, is attached to a small motor. Weight as light as twenty grams is secured to the bottom of the muscle to hold it straight. The motor then coils the “thread,” which makes it much more condensed, and in turn lifts the weight attached to the bottom of it. Then, when heat is applied directly on the muscle, it begins to contract. Using different materials yields different results since different materials will contract at different temperatures.

This newly-created muscle is also much more powerful than the human muscle. When comparing a human muscle and newly created muscle of the same shape and size, Li Na, a researcher at the University of Texas, found that the newly created muscle could lift weights about a 100 times heavier. Unlike the original artificial muscles, which were made of expensive alloys, the newly created muscle hardly costs anything to create.

These new muscles may expand the possibilities of creating humanoid robots and revolutionize human prosthetics.