March 19th 2008--At the University of California, researchers have created an artificial muscle that contracts to more than twice its original length when electricity is applied to it. The muscle is made out of flexible carbon nanotubes which are built so that if a section of the muscle fails, the nanotubes seal themselves off by becoming non-conductive- this prevents the fault from spreading to other areas. Previous artificial muscles were often based on metal electrodes that often resulted in failures after repeated use. The uneven thickness of the metal and random spacing of the particles resulted in muscles that hamstrung themselves. The use of newer carbon nanotubes has resulted in much less failures. The conductivity of the nanotubes could allow them to power walking robots, develop better prosthetics, or even charge your Ipod.
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