this is a slime robot fully capable of
moving in any direction through tiny
spaces around objects and even grabbing
onto things tightly and it's completely
created and controlled by humans no it's
not flubber from the movie with robin
williams a greatly unappreciated
scientific masterpiece
this slime is truly a groundbreaking
discovery and creation that could change
the future of robotics medicine and
humanity yes the future of humanity may
be impacted by a magnetic turd okay in
all seriousness what exactly is it and
why is it significant well we use robots
for all sorts of purposes but they
aren't exactly known for their dexterity
and nuanced touch which is why this
robot simply learning how to peel a
banana without smashing it to bits was a
huge breakthrough just this year
miniature robots have also been created
to navigate tight spaces like these tiny
objects coated with a magnetic spray
making the delivery of pills to a very
specific part of the body a possibility
and the rise of nanobots has even opened
the potential for microscopic machines
that could be deployed inside the human
body and act to identify or even destroy
cancer in the future but robots
combining the ability for tight or tiny
navigation and physical manipulation
together are super rare on the one hand
you have elastomer based soft body
robots that are great for gentle
manipulation in sensitive environments
but are limited in their deformability
or how small they can get and on the
other hand you have fluid based soft
body robots which are really good at
fitting into small spaces but are
limited by their unstable shape this is
where our slime robot comes in the slime
is made up of a polymer called polyvinyl
alcohol and borax which can actually be
created fairly simply what you end up
with is a slimy blobby-like substance
that can act like both a liquid and a
solid this behavior is called
viscoelasticity and it's kind of like
when you mix together water and
cornstarch and make oobleck the
non-newtonian substance whose viscosity
changes under pressure if you smack it
or touch it really quickly it acts like
a solid but if handled slowly and gently
it acts like a liquid the same is true
of this slime but what gives it its
unique ability to move are tiny
particles of neodymium magnets neodymium
can create powerful permanent magnets
that are super useful when you need a
low magnet mass or volume and in this
case because the slime is so small the
researchers wanted to use tiny magnets
with high power and these magnetic
particles within the slime can be
manipulated in order to make it travel
rotate or form different shapes i'm
quite interested in using the magnetic
field to drive you know this kind of
tiny device inside the body the main
advantage is that a magnetic field is
not that harmful to the tissue to the
body okay so we've got a magnetic slime
robot on our hands but what exactly is
it for like what can it actually do
right now the biggest focus by its
creator seems to be in the medical field
though it's certainly not limited to
just that because of the slime's ability
to navigate tiny spaces and be
manipulated it could be useful in the
digestive system for example if you or a
child swallowed something toxic like a
small battery the slime could be
deployed to wrap around a toxic object
and help prevent toxic electrolytes from
leaking out much like other miniature
soft body robots it could be used to
assist minimally invasive surgery or
even targeted drug delivery the slime is
able to navigate channels as small as
1.5 millimeters which is tiny like this
tiny so small they were proven to work
on multiple surfaces and substrates in
complex environments from plastic to
glass silicone water metal and paper
ultimately the slime is extremely
versatile which is rare for conventional
liquid-based robots it can stretch up to
seven times its original length and
unlike other soft body robots this slime
doesn't require a pre-designed shape and
can be reconfigured and suit you the
magnetic slime can grasp multiple target
objects simultaneously and even extend
tentacles in three directions i consider
it more like a surgical tool because
it's larger
and you can apply a much stronger force
on the object because you can put more
magnetic material inside of your slime
robot in comparison with those nanobots
but truth be told the functional use is
still really hypothetical and in its
fundamental research stage where
scientists are just trying to understand
its material properties it could be used
as an electrical conductor to connect
electrodes in hard to reach places or in
motion sensing of the human body for
wearable devices electronic devices
often fail because of partial
disconnection whether from environmental
factors or scratches by sharp objects
and this slime could help repair those
the slime is even self-healing bringing
itself back together after being chopped
apart this is because of the hydrogen
bonds between the bori ions and oh
groups which can occur spontaneously
without the help of external sources and
after healing it maintains its physical
integrity and electrical capabilities
the researchers even did a series of
tests with led light bulbs showing the
slime itself healing between a circuit
and the lights coming back to full
strength the true possibilities are just
beginning to be explored as it's
essentially a new type of material and
that will likely be the focus of future
experiments with the slime of course
it's important to remember that the
slime does not have any form of
sentience or autonomy as it's completely
controlled by human manipulation at
least for now and in its current state
the magnetic particles themselves are
actually toxic but protective layers of
silica have been tested for hypothetical
use in humans to keep it safe in the
future we hope that we can realize some
kind of autonomous control and also the
device can have some intelligence
basically a slime robot should know how
to deform how to behave how to
manipulate or impact the environment so
really i mean we have two parts one is
from engineering point of view the other
is its application for medicine at the
end of the day it's another really
creative and cool step in robot creation
and manipulation that will likely bear
even more fruit for future research and
more creations speaking of creations and
creativity i want to thank today's
sponsor skillshare who's giving 30 off a
year-long skillshare membership for
anyone who clicks our link in the
description or uses our code
asapscience30 you want to improve your
skills skillshare's gotcha you want to
develop new ones skillshare's got you
covered there too you all know how much
we love using skillshare here at asap
science and i know you will too a course
i recently learned so much from it's
called find your style five exercises to
unlock your creative identity by andy j
pizza yes pizza the course helps you
find your personal artistic identity
through exploration whether it's art
podcasting speaking or any place where
you want to develop a strong sense of
self and point of view how do you know
your own taste what makes something good
these are questions that i often ask
myself and even struggle with so it's
nice to hear them processed out loud and
have the ability to work through them
it's just one of the thousands of
inspiring classes you can take to invest
in your personal growth whether you're
wanting to make a career pivot or just
expand already existing resources from
technical classes on photography and
animation to personal and spiritual
growth to plant care skillshare has it
all even though science can often feel
very straight lined or like a narrow way
of thinking it's been shown time and
time again that some of the best and
most celebrated scientists are people
who expanded their horizons and other
creative interests beyond science so i
highly recommend you to try that out
yourself too again check the link out
below or use our code asap signs 30 for
30 off a year-long skillshare membership
thanks for watching make sure you like
the video subscribe and we'll see you
next time for some more science peace