A group of researchers at Legacy Research Institute, Oregon Health and Sciences University (OHSU) and Tufts University have developed silk implants that they have placed in the brain of laboratory rats in order to reduce the progression of epilepsy. These silky brain implants are designed to release adenosine (ADO) – a specific chemical compound which… »
An interdisciplinary team of researchers consisting out of civil and environmental engineers, mathematicians, biomedical engineers and musical composers from MIT, Tuffs University and Boston University, cooperated in order to develop a novel method that can be used to synthesize new variants on silk’s natural structure as well as for making further improvements in the synthetic… »
A research team led by biomedical engineers at Tufts University in collaboration with researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign developed a technology they call transient electronics – small and fully biocompatible electronic devices that are able to dissolve harmlessly into their surroundings after functioning for a desired amount of time, thus eliminating the… »
Despite their extreme flexibility and adaptability, current soft-bodied robots are often limited by their slow speed. Inspired by the ability of some caterpillars to rapidly curl themselves into a wheel and propel themselves away from predators, a team of researchers from the Tufts University, Massachusetts, have developed GoQBot – a soft-bodied robot with a similar… »
Natural silk, fibers made by spiders and silkworms, is a material that is tougher than kevlar or steel, yet remarkably flexible. In recent years, researchers have worked to gain a better understanding of what silk is and how it’s made, with the goal of being able to consistently replicate and enhance its production synthetically. Aside… »
Weird movements in the abdomens of freely crawling caterpillars are making headlines in the fields of biology and engineering. The findings from a multidisciplinary team of researchers, including Jake Socha, Virginia Tech assistant professor of engineering science and mechanics, Michael Simon of Tufts University’s Department of Biology, and Barry Trimmer, professor of biology at Tufts,… »
