Ok, so do you remember that kids film years ago with Robin Williams staring opposite a lump of green goo? It danced and moved around and we all laughed and wished we could spread it on our shoes and bounce around school? (I was very young when it came out…)
Well, the bouncing may not be any closer to happening, but scientists in Japan have created a flubber like substance that moves all by itself. Shuji Hashimoto Applied Physics Laboratory in Tokyo are responsible for the chemical caterpillar. (Right this will get technical for a moment- I hope you understand it more than me!)
‘Shingo Maeda and colleagues made the colour-changing, motile gel by combining polymers that change in size depending on their chemical environment. This is based on an oscillating chemical reaction called the Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction. The result is an autonomous material that moves without electronic stimulation. The BZ reaction is one of a class of chemical systems in which the concentration of one or more compounds periodically increases and decreases. ‘
(Credit to New Scientist)
So why is this a good thing I hear you asking. Why should a gadget website care about some goo that can walk by itself? Well, think of the robots! Ok, and the general engineering use. But mainly the robots.
The gel (which I’m sure has a complicated name with lots of numbers in it) contracts and expands like muscles in the human body do, without the need for an electrical current passing through it. Which theoretically means that with a bit of fiddling, it could be grafted onto metal skeletons to create autonomous robots.
Ok, so it won’t happen for many many years, if at all. The scientists in question are currently focusing on making the gel lay flat as it walks rather than the curved form in the photo. Unfortunately that too looks destined to stay lab bound, but isn’t it interesting what discoveries are being made today which could eventually control the day to day lives of our future offspring?
For a video of the goo, see Gadgety News
2 thoughts on “Flubber: A reality?”
Flubber still freaks me out!
Thanks for the trackback :0)
J
This is actually amazing and if it does get developed further I think it will have lots of applications.
There was quite a few robots on the gadget show a few weeks back and its amazing how far technology has come.
Looking at the recent ID card announcement I’m just thinking all these advances in technology do mean that we will be moving closer to the Demolition Man kind of state. Every time you swear you’ll get a fine.