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| Sunday, 17 October 2004 |
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Features |  |
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Mimicing biological systems : 'Smart Material' The day may be round the corner for aeroplanes soaring the skies, flap their wings and swoop down to land at the airports. In fact, a group of scientists from Virginia Tech, USA trying to develop 'smart material', that will use plant protein structures in an attempt to mimic biological systems might help aeroplanes do just that! Soar, evade obstacles, change shape and make nose dives - just like a hawk who alights upon its prey in a flash! However, 'smart material' is just the first step towards the process. In the next 17 months, experts from different fields of science will research on plant proteins, specifically a group of hard polymers called nastic materials. In biology, nastic refers to the natural movement of plants in response to changes in their environment, such as plants that track the sunlight or that stiffen when watered. These movements are caused by changes in the water pressure inside the plant and can result in very large changes in shape. The goal of the project, is to develop synthetic materials that utilize internal pressure changes to cause large shape change, a highly complex process in itself. Virginia Tech began working in the 'smart materials' area in the 1980s, attempting to engineer materials and systems that reflect nature. The project is funded by USA's Defense Science Office of the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) and costs US $2.1 million. |
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