Scienceblogtwo

Lightning bugs use their luminosity for communication in order to attract a partner, fend off predators, or lure prey, lighting up dark backyards on warm summer evenings. Researchers at MIT were similarly inspired by these shimmering fireflies. They created electroluminescent soft artificial muscles for flying, insect-scale robots, taking inspiration from nature. When the robots fly, the tiny artificial muscles that drive their wings generate a colored light. The robots may be able to converse with one another because to this electroluminescence. For instance, a robot that finds survivors while on a search-and-rescue mission within a fallen building could use lights to alert others and request assistance. These paper-clip-sized microscale robots are now one step closer to flying on their own outside of the lab thanks to their capacity to generate light. Since these robots are too light to carry sensors, researchers must track them using large infrared cameras that are ineffective in th...

The tangles found in the brains of those with Alzheimer's Disease are caused by the almost random mixing of two kinds of tau proteins. Neurofibrillary tangles in the brain are one of the characteristics of Alzheimer's disease. These tau protein-based tangles prevent neurons from functioning correctly and have the potential to kill the cells. In a recent study, MIT scientists described how the interaction of two varieties of tau proteins, called 3R and 4R tau, results in the formation of these tangles. The tangles may almost randomly recruit any tau protein in the brain, the researchers discovered. According to the experts, this characteristic may be a factor in the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease. "The filament may recruit whichever tau version present in the environment to put onto the expanding filament, regardless of whether the end of an existing filament is a 3R or 4R tau protein. The ability of the tau structure in Alzheimer's disease to haphazardly incorpo...