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Artificial muscle set for a stretch in space
An artificial muscle developed by Lenore Rasmussen (pictured) will be tested aboard the ISS (Photo: Elle Starkman/PPPL Office of Communications)
When the Dragon spacecraft is propelled into space atop a Falcon 9 rocket this week on a resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS), it will be carrying an artificial muscle material developed by Lenore Rasmussen and her company RasLabs. In addition to better prosthetic devices, it is hoped the material could find applications in robots on deep space missions.
The Synthetic Muscle is a gel-like material known as an electroactive polymer (EAP), which means it changes size or shape in response to an electric field. Its ability to contract or expand at low voltages gives it the potential to mimic human muscle movement and find applications in prosthetics and robotics.
"We can’t explore space without robots," Rasmussen said. "Humans can only withstand a certain amount of radiation so that limits the time that people can be in space, whereas robots particularly if they’re radiation-resistant can be up there for long periods of time without being replaced."
But to realize this potential, there were a number of problems that needed to be overcome. Firstly, a way to make the gel adhere to metal electrodes made of steel or titanium needed to be found. With the help of a team at the US Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), this was accomplished by treating the metal with a plasma, which altered its surface and allowed the gel to more closely adhere to it.
Then, to examine whether the material would be suitable for use in robots intended for extended periods in space, such as deep space missions, last year the researchers exposed the material to more than 300,000 RADs of gamma radiation. This is the equivalent to a return trip to Mars and 20 times the lethal dose in humans. A second test lasting 45 hours was also conducted, which would be equivalent to the radiation received on a trip to Jupiter and beyond.
The researchers say the material showed no change in strength, electroactivity, or durability in response to the radiation, with the only effect being a slight change in color. Extreme temperature tests were also carried out on samples of the material, which was found to be unaffected by temperatures as low as -271° C (-456° F).
For the upcoming tests aboard the ISS, the material will be kept in a zero gravity storage rack for a period of 90 days and be photographed every three weeks. After it is returned to Earth in July, it will be tested against identical materials that remained on Earth.
"Based on the good results we had on planet Earth, the next step is to see how it behaves in a space environment," said Charles Gentile, an engineer at PPPL who has worked closely with Rasmussen. "From there the next step might be to use it on a mission to Mars."
Source: http://www.gizmag.com/synthetic-muscle-iss/36959/
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Founded by Russian entrepreneur Dmitry Itskov in February 2011 with the participation of leading Russian specialists in the field of neural interfaces, robotics, artificial organs and systems.
The main goals of the 2045 Initiative: the creation and realization of a new strategy for the development of humanity which meets global civilization challenges; the creation of optimale conditions promoting the spiritual enlightenment of humanity; and the realization of a new futuristic reality based on 5 principles: high spirituality, high culture, high ethics, high science and high technologies.
The main science mega-project of the 2045 Initiative aims to create technologies enabling the transfer of a individual’s personality to a more advanced non-biological carrier, and extending life, including to the point of immortality. We devote particular attention to enabling the fullest possible dialogue between the world’s major spiritual traditions, science and society.
A large-scale transformation of humanity, comparable to some of the major spiritual and sci-tech revolutions in history, will require a new strategy. We believe this to be necessary to overcome existing crises, which threaten our planetary habitat and the continued existence of humanity as a species. With the 2045 Initiative, we hope to realize a new strategy for humanity's development, and in so doing, create a more productive, fulfilling, and satisfying future.
The "2045" team is working towards creating an international research center where leading scientists will be engaged in research and development in the fields of anthropomorphic robotics, living systems modeling and brain and consciousness modeling with the goal of transferring one’s individual consciousness to an artificial carrier and achieving cybernetic immortality.
An annual congress "The Global Future 2045" is organized by the Initiative to give platform for discussing mankind's evolutionary strategy based on technologies of cybernetic immortality as well as the possible impact of such technologies on global society, politics and economies of the future.
Future prospects of "2045" Initiative for society
2015-2020
The emergence and widespread use of affordable android "avatars" controlled by a "brain-computer" interface. Coupled with related technologies “avatars’ will give people a number of new features: ability to work in dangerous environments, perform rescue operations, travel in extreme situations etc.
Avatar components will be used in medicine for the rehabilitation of fully or partially disabled patients giving them prosthetic limbs or recover lost senses.
2020-2025
Creation of an autonomous life-support system for the human brain linked to a robot, ‘avatar’, will save people whose body is completely worn out or irreversibly damaged. Any patient with an intact brain will be able to return to a fully functioning bodily life. Such technologies will greatly enlarge the possibility of hybrid bio-electronic devices, thus creating a new IT revolution and will make all kinds of superimpositions of electronic and biological systems possible.
2030-2035
Creation of a computer model of the brain and human consciousness with the subsequent development of means to transfer individual consciousness onto an artificial carrier. This development will profoundly change the world, it will not only give everyone the possibility of cybernetic immortality but will also create a friendly artificial intelligence, expand human capabilities and provide opportunities for ordinary people to restore or modify their own brain multiple times. The final result at this stage can be a real revolution in the understanding of human nature that will completely change the human and technical prospects for humanity.
2045
This is the time when substance-independent minds will receive new bodies with capacities far exceeding those of ordinary humans. A new era for humanity will arrive! Changes will occur in all spheres of human activity – energy generation, transportation, politics, medicine, psychology, sciences, and so on.
Today it is hard to imagine a future when bodies consisting of nanorobots will become affordable and capable of taking any form. It is also hard to imagine body holograms featuring controlled matter. One thing is clear however: humanity, for the first time in its history, will make a fully managed evolutionary transition and eventually become a new species. Moreover, prerequisites for a large-scale expansion into outer space will be created as well.
Key elements of the project in the future
• International social movement
• social network immortal.me
• charitable foundation "Global Future 2045" (Foundation 2045)
• scientific research centre "Immortality"
• business incubator
• University of "Immortality"
• annual award for contribution to the realization of the project of "Immortality”.
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