Artificial muscles show more flex

Artificial muscles made significant gains when a literal twist in the development approach uncovered the tensile—or stretchy—abilities of polymer fibers once they were twisted and coiled into a spring-like geometry. In a similar manner to the powerful climbing tendrils of cucumber plants, the unique geometry gives the coil a flexing motion when fiber material shrinks—a reaction that can be controlled with heat. Now, researchers have improved these tensile properties even furthe