Lenore Rasmussen, Ph.D., principal investigator of the Synthetic Muscle investigation, checks the pressure during the oxygen plasma treatment of titanium metal support mounts at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. (Credit: Elle Starkman, PPPL)
An American company creates muscles out of an advanced smart material that could be used in robots, expanding its capabilities while enabling them to go places considered too dangerous for humans. As astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) study how the material reacts to the space environment, scientists on Earth are investigating the application of these same muscles in prosthetics, allowing fabrication of extremely realistic replacements for people who have lost limbs.