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From NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory:
A piece of tape can only be used a few times before the adhesion wears off and it can no longer hold two surfaces together. But researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, are working on the ultimate system of stickiness, inspired by geckos. Thanks to tiny hairs on the bottom of geckos' feet, these lizards can cling to walls with ease, and their stickiness doesn't wear off with repeated usage. JPL engineer Aaron Parness and colleagues used that concept to create a material with synthetic hairs that are much thinner than a human hair. When a force is applied to make the tiny hairs bend, that makes the material stick to a desired surface.
"This is how the gecko does it, by weighting its feet," Parness said. Behind this phenomenon is a concept called van der Waals forces. A slight electrical field is created because electrons orbiting the nuclei of atoms are not evenly spaced, so there are positive and negative sides to a neutral molecule. The positively charged part of a molecule attracts the negatively charged part of its neighbor, resulting in "stickiness." Even in extreme temperature, pressure and radiation conditions, these forces persist.
"The grippers don't leave any residue and don't require a mating surface on the wall the way Velcro would," Parness said. The newest generation of grippers can support more than 150 Newtons of force, the equivalent of 35 pounds (16 kilograms).
Previously: Gecko Grippers get a Microgravity Test Flight
Original Submission
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 15 2015, @11:41AM
That's what I was thinking. But it could also be a good (product / tool) if the inevitable damage occurs slow enough to make it work functionally for a significant amount of time,
I was thinking earlier in the day about the healing difference between biological entities and machines. And this led to some A.I. thoughts. They went something like this...
(Story? begins with a broken hydraulic hose.)
Man, that is one way in which we are similar, but also a way we are different. If we pop a hose, we can end up no longer existing. But it's so simple to just replace this part. I could probably run all the oil out and cause some damage, but it's still only a part to replace. Just a more significant one.
We certainly are approaching a more machine like state as the science to make it happen progresses. But we both wear down over time. Jack died yesterday because of an accumulation of damage and disease over time. He had a good life I think, and we he was certainly a huge influence and positive male role model for my father in his youth. I used to love playing in the river at his house when I was young. But it was slightly terrifying to see his prosthetic leg. Though after very little time that went away as it normalized to me. He will be missed...
But it is a good example of replacing parts. And old parts with new improved ones. His leg kept getting better as his body faded. Did he ever get a new liver? I wonder what he would have thought about the pig parts story on Soylent News from the other day.
On the other hand when we are young we don't wear out. We heal and grow stronger. Repeated stresses like weightlifting or running will improve our condition. Even if we are up there in years. But this machine doesn't really benefit much from use. It just slowly breaks down at every point of stress on it. And the rest a bit slower. Youth is a strange state I guess, in this Universe of entropy. It's awfully weird to have turned that corner and feel my body not be as efficient at fixing itself. Kinda fucking sucks...
But I wouldn't want to be young again... Way too much that I don't want to learn all over again. We don't only learn through mistakes, but damn if some of the most important things aren't learned that way, and quick! I wonder if this is the thing holding A.I. back the most. How does Watson learn from it's mistakes? But does Watson even make mistakes to learn from? The team around him accounts for a significant amount of his current learning and, I assume, any errors. How does that change going forward? And is that the hurdle A.I. needs to jump in order to take off and start its youth?
And how significant will those errors become if allowed to exist...