The robot is a dramatic example of the marriage of biotechnology with nanotechnology

Tiny robots powered by living muscle have been created by scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles.

The devices were formed by “growing” rat cells on microscopic silicon chips, the researchers report in the journal Nature Materials.

Less than a millimetre long, the miniscule robots can move themselves without any external source of power.

The work is a dramatic example of the marriage of biotechnology with the tiny world of nanotechnology.

In nanotechnology, researchers often turn to the natural world for inspiration.

But Professor Carlo Montemagno, of the University of California, Los Angeles, turns to nature not for ideas, but for actual starting materials.

In the past he has made rotary nano-motors out of genetically engineered proteins. Now he has grown muscle tissue onto tiny robotic skeletons.

Living device

Montemano’s team used rat heart cells to create a tiny device that moves on its own when the cells contract. A second device looks like a minute pair of frog legs.

“The bones that we’re using are either a plastic or they’re silicon based,” he said. “So we make these really fine structures that mechanically have hinges that allow them to move and bend.

“And then by nano-scale manipulation of the surface chemistry, the muscle cells get the cues to say, ‘Oh! I want to attach at this point and not to attach at another point’. And so the cells assemble, then they undergo a change, so that they actually form a muscle.

“Now you have a device that has a skeleton and muscles on it to allow it to move.”

Under a microscope, you can see the tiny, two-footed “bio-bots” crawl around.

Professor Montemagno says muscles like these could be used in a host of microscopic devices – even to drive miniature electrical generators to power computer chips.

But when biological cells become attached to silicon – are they alive?

“They’re absolutely alive,” Professor Montemagno told BBC News. “I mean the cells actually grow, multiply and assemble – they form the structure themselves. So the device is alive.”

The notion is likely to disturb many who already have concerns about nanotechnology.

But for Carlo Montemagno, a professor of engineering, it makes sense to match the solutions that nature has already found through billions of years of evolution to the newest challenges in technology.

Healthy Weight Loss and Dieting

No matter how peaceful your nature, when it comes to the battle of the bulge, you have to put up a good fight. In our eat-and-run, massive-portion-sized world, maintaining a healthy weight can be hard enough, and healthy weight loss can be a real struggle. Adding to the difficulty is the abundance of fad diets and “quick-fix” plans that tempt and confuse us and ultimately usually do not work.

Weight management not only makes you look and feel better, it influences your future health. A healthy weight decreases your chances of developing serious health risks such as heart disease or diabetes.

If your last diet attempt wasn’t a success, or life events have caused you to gain weight, don’t be discouraged. The key is to find a plan that works with your body’s individual needs so that you can avoid common diet pitfalls and instead make lasting lifestyle changes that can help you find long-term, healthy weight loss success.

You feel deprived. Diets that don’t allow certain types of food (carbs, fat, sugar) in moderation are simply not practical, not to mention unhealthy – eliminating entire food groups doesn’t allow for a healthy, well-rounded diet and creates imbalances in our bodies.

You “plateau” after losing a few pounds. There’s actually a second component to healthy weight loss: exercise. Often your body adjusts to a new way of eating, and it’s only with increased physical activity that the pounds will continue to melt away.

You lose weight, but can’t keep it off. Diets that severely cut calories, restrict certain foods, or rely on ready-made meals might work in the short term. However, once you meet your weight loss goal, you have no means of lifelong, healthy diet maintenance, and the pounds quickly come back.

After your diet, you seem to put on weight more quickly. Restricting your food intake slows down your metabolism – another reason why starvation or “fasting” diets are counterproductive.

You break your diet and feel too discouraged to try again. Just because you gave in to temptation and overindulged, doesn’t mean all your hard work goes down the drain. Healthy eating is about the big picture – an occasional splurge won’t kill your efforts. And again, diets that are too restrictive are conducive to cheating – when you feel deprived, it’s easy to fall off the wagon.

You lose money faster than you lose weight. Special shakes, meals, and programs may be cost-prohibitive and less practical for long-term weight loss and healthy weight maintenance.

You feel isolated and unable to enjoy social situations revolving around food. Without some practical, healthy diet strategies, you may feel lost when dining out or attending events like cocktail parties or weddings. If the food served isn’t on your specific diet plan, what can you do?

The person on the commercial lost 30 lbs in 2 months – and you haven’t. Diet companies make a lot of grandiose promises, and most are simply not realistic. Unfortunately, losing weight is not easy, and anyone who makes it seem that way is doing you a disservice. Don’t get discouraged by setting unrealistic goals!

Healthy Weight , Healthy Weight Health, Healthy Weight Health Latest, Healthy Weight Health Information, Healthy Weight Health information, Healthy Weight Health Photo,Healthy Weight for Weight Health photo, Healthy Weight Health Latest, Healthy Weight Health latest, Choreography for Weight Health Story, Healthy Weight Video, Healthy Weight video, Healthy Weight Health History, Healthy Weight Health history, Healthy Weight over Picture, history, Healthy Weight Asia, Healthy Weight asia, Healthy Weight Gallery, Healthy Weight for Weight gallery, Healthy Weight Photo Gallery, Healthy Weight Picture, Healthy Weight picture, Healthy Weight Web, Malaysia Health, web Health, web Health picture, video photo, video surgery, gallery, laparoscopy, virus, flu, drug, video, Health Health, calories, photo, nutrition, health video, symptoms, Healthy Weight , medical, beating, diet, physical, Training, organic, gym, blister, exercise, weightloss, surgery, spiritual, eating, tips, skin, operation, bf1,

Health BF1

Tag Archives: weight management

Healthy Fat Loss

Living robots powered by muscle

Healthy Weight Loss and Dieting

Healthy Weight Loss and Dieting