On this week’s news update…

Artificial Muscles

A robot arm flexes its muscles…

Mushroom Leather

Producing leather from mushrooms…

Floating City

And a futuristic floating city!

First up…

Muscles!

We don’t just use them when we exercise, but also when we carry out everyday tasks.

Muscles are attached to bones via flexible strips of tissue called tendons.

tendons

When a muscle tightens, it pulls on a tendon.

This forces the bone to which that tendon is attached to move.

Recently, an engineer has created a robot arm that uses muscles in a similar way to a human arm.

Each muscle in the arm is powered by a process called pneumatics, where air is blown through a network of small tubes, and every muscle can tighten and relax like a human muscle.

pneumatics

The muscles have proved flexible enough to perform a variety of movements and strong enough to lift a 7 kg weight!

The arm’s engineer now hopes to develop a muscular body on which to attach the arm and aims to one day create the world’s most advanced human-like robot!

Next up…

Leather is widely used to create products like shoes, belts, and handbags.

However, leather production uses a lot of resources, so it is considered to be damaging to the environment, and many people dislike using leather products because they are made from animal skins.

But now, a company in California is producing an alternative form of leather from mushrooms!

Unlike the animals used to make traditional leather, mushrooms—or fungi—can be grown using very few resources.

A specialized laboratory has been set up to grow the fungi needed to produce this new form of leather.

After being grown in trays, the fungi can be flattened into sheets.

The sheets can then be engineered to look and feel like animal skin.

Both tough and flexible, the fungi-based material can be used in much the same way as traditional leather.

A luxury handbag has been produced using the mushroom leather, and its designers think this sustainable material could soon be used to create everyday clothes.

Would you wear shoes made from mushrooms?

And finally…

Many of the world’s cities are located close to the sea.

Unfortunately, as climate change causes sea levels to rise and more extreme weather starts to affect coastal areas, these cities will be threatened by serious flooding.

The city of Busan, in South Korea, is a coastal settlement that could face such environmental challenges.

Busan, South Korea

However, a group of designers is planning a unique extension to the city that could help Busan cope with a watery future—a floating city!

This network of floating islands will be constructed in the sea close to Busan.

Designed to accommodate 10,000 residents, the floating settlement will develop a sustainable system to produce food, energy, and fresh water.

Each floating platform will be built to withstand natural disasters such as tsunamis and hurricanes, and the design of each structure will enable the marine ecosystem to thrive beneath the human community living above it.

The futuristic project is yet to start construction, but once built, it could mark the start of humans living on the ocean!

That’s all for this week—we’ll see you next time!