Scientists create new ‘living robots’ with memory in major breakthrough
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Book Review
    • Brands
    • Earth
    • Explorer
    • Fact Check
    • Family
    • Food
    • Game Reviews
    • Good Practices
    • Habitat
    • Humour
    • In Focus
    • Luxury
    • Mode
    • Panorama
    • Pursuit
    • Wealth
    • Wellbeing
    • Wheels
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Videos
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Wednesday
February 08, 2023

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Book Review
    • Brands
    • Earth
    • Explorer
    • Fact Check
    • Family
    • Food
    • Game Reviews
    • Good Practices
    • Habitat
    • Humour
    • In Focus
    • Luxury
    • Mode
    • Panorama
    • Pursuit
    • Wealth
    • Wellbeing
    • Wheels
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Videos
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
  • বাংলা
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 08, 2023
Scientists create new ‘living robots’ with memory in major breakthrough

Science

TBS Report 
01 April, 2021, 08:50 am
Last modified: 01 April, 2021, 08:51 am

Related News

  • Retailers turn to robots in cost inflation fight
  • Robot makes French fries faster, better than humans do
  • Dr Abdul Khaleque: The scientist who shunned academia to dedicate his life to inventions
  • Elon Musk faces skeptics as Tesla gets ready to unveil 'Optimus' robot
  • CyberOne humanoid robot

Scientists create new ‘living robots’ with memory in major breakthrough

The “xenobots” which is an updated version of biological machines that were first unveiled last year, were made out of the cells of frogs by scientists from Tufts University and the University of Vermont

TBS Report 
01 April, 2021, 08:50 am
Last modified: 01 April, 2021, 08:51 am
Photo/Courtesy
Photo/Courtesy

In a major breakthrough, scientists have created new living robots that have memory and are able to assemble themselves, reports Independent. 

The "xenobots" which is an updated version of biological machines that were first unveiled last year, were made out of the cells of frogs by scientists from Tufts University and the University of Vermont. 

The tiny machines could conduct a host of tasks and actions, including moving themselves and other things around and demonstrating collective behaviour as part of a swarm of such robots.

The new version include a vast array of upgrades.

They are able to assemble into a body from a host of single cells, do not need muscle cells to move around, and have a memory that can be used to record things that happen to them.

They are also faster and more capable than the first version, and have a longer lifespan, which can still work together as a collective and heal themselves.

But they also could help shed light on how exactly cells – such as those that make up a human – come together to form a whole that works as a system.

That could help us understand how single-celled organisms turned into the complex organisms that surround us – and include us. The processes that help form the xenobots could tell us how we, too, were formed, and gained capabilities such as being able to process information and undersand things, the researchers say.

The work on the new xenobots is described in a paper published today in the journal Science Robotics.

The robots were built a little differently from the original versions, researchers say. They took stem cells from frog embryos and allowed them to begin assembling themselves, as they would when the frog grows, forming into tiny balls with "cilia", or small hair-like strands that can be controlled by the organism.

In a frog – or human – those cilia would be found in places like the lungs, where they help push out harmful material. But the researchers were able to use them for an entirely different purpose, essentially reprogramming the xenobot so that the cilia were used like tiny legs, to move around.

 "We are witnessing the remarkable plasticity of cellular collectives, which build a rudimentary new 'body' that is quite distinct from their default - in this case, a frog - despite having a completely normal genome," said Michael Levin, distinguished professor of biology and director of the Allen Discovery Center at Tufts University, and corresponding author of the study.

"In a frog embryo, cells cooperate to create a tadpole. Here, removed from that context, we see that cells can re-purpose their genetically encoded hardware, like cilia, for new functions such as locomotion. It is amazing that cells can spontaneously take on new roles and create new body plans and behaviors without long periods of evolutionary selection for those features."

'We can get it done': Biden vows $2 trillion infrastructure bill will overcome epic political battle
Researchers say the process is not dissimilar from the normal way of creating a robot – but just uses biological tissue to do so.

"In a way, the Xenobots are constructed much like a traditional robot. Only we use cells and tissues rather than artificial components to build the shape and create predictable behavior." said senior scientist Doug Blackiston, who co-first authored the study with research technician Emma Lederer.

"On the biology end, this approach is helping us understand how cells communicate as they interact with one another during development, and how we might better control those interactions."

At the same time, scientists from the University of Vermont were running computer simulations of xenobots working both together and apart to find how their shapes changed their behaviours. Those could then be used to select for specific behaviour, such as gathering pieces of debris from within a set of particles.

"We know the task, but it's not at all obvious – for people – what a successful design should look like. That's where the supercomputer comes in and searches over the space of all possible Xenobot swarms to find the swarm that does the job best," said Josh Bongard, who led the team of computer scientists and robotics experts.

"We want Xenobots to do useful work. Right now we're giving them simple tasks, but ultimately we're aiming for a new kind of living tool that could, for example, clean up microplastics in the ocean or contaminants in soil."
 

Top News

robot / living robots / Scientist

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • RMG turns to India from China to get cheaper man-made yarn
    RMG turns to India from China to get cheaper man-made yarn
  • Country's revenue earnings were Tk40,000cr more in last fiscal: Finance Minister
    Country's revenue earnings were Tk40,000cr more in last fiscal: Finance Minister
  • The world's richest person is trying to head off a succession battle
    The world's richest person is trying to head off a succession battle

MOST VIEWED

  • Photo: Collected
    Endangered monarch butterflies face perilous storm
  • Webb NIRCam composite image of Jupiter from three filters – F360M (red), F212N (yellow-green), and F150W2 (cyan) – and alignment due to the planet’s rotation. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Jupiter ERS Team; image processing by Judy Schmidt.
    Jupiter's moon count jumps to 92, most in solar system
  • Photo: BBC
    Hubble telescope captures supermassive black hole eating a star
  • Photo: Collected
    Green comet zooming our way, last visited 50,000 years ago
  • Simulated image shows the positions and orbits of the newly discovered 591 high velocity stars by a Chinese research team. Photo: National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
    Star visibility eroding rapidly as night sky gets brighter: study
  • The NASA logo hangs in the Mission Operations Control Center at Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia, U.S., October 26, 2022. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo
    NASA, Boeing team up to develop lower-emissions aircraft

Related News

  • Retailers turn to robots in cost inflation fight
  • Robot makes French fries faster, better than humans do
  • Dr Abdul Khaleque: The scientist who shunned academia to dedicate his life to inventions
  • Elon Musk faces skeptics as Tesla gets ready to unveil 'Optimus' robot
  • CyberOne humanoid robot

Features

Photo: Reuters

A tragedy that will also shake up the region's geopolitics

7h | Panorama
Nimah designed by Compass Architects- Wooden tiles. Photo: Junaid Hasan Pranto

Trendy flooring designs to upgrade any space

18h | Habitat
Benefits of having high ceilings in your new home

Benefits of having high ceilings in your new home

17h | Habitat
Each Reverse Osmosi plant can produce approximately 8,000 litres of drinking water a day for around 250 families. Photo: Sadiqur Rahman

A drop in the ocean of persistent water crisis

19h | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

30% companies see double-digit growth even in hard times

30% companies see double-digit growth even in hard times

10h | TBS Insight
Challenging time waiting for RMG

Challenging time waiting for RMG

17h | TBS Round Table
"Full Moon Meditation" organized by Department of Theater and Performance Studies, University of Dhaka

"Full Moon Meditation" organized by Department of Theater and Performance Studies, University of Dhaka

17h | TBS Graduates
10 cricketers who have played over 400 T20 matches

10 cricketers who have played over 400 T20 matches

17h | TBS SPORTS

Most Read

1
Photo: Courtesy
Panorama

From 'Made in Bangladesh' to 'Designed in Bangladesh'

2
Leepu realised his love for cars from a young age and for the last 40 years, he has transformed, designed and customised hundreds of cars. Photo: Collected
Panorama

'I am not crazy about cars anymore': Nizamuddin Awlia Leepu

3
Master plan for futuristic Chattogram city in the making
Districts

Master plan for futuristic Chattogram city in the making

4
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, U.S., September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo
Economy

IMF approves $4.7 billion loan for Bangladesh, calls for ambitious reforms

5
Belal Ahmed new acting chairman of SIBL
Banking

Belal Ahmed new acting chairman of SIBL

6
Photo: Collected
Crime

Prime Distribution MD Mamun arrested in fraud case

EMAIL US
[email protected]
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2023
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - [email protected]

For advertisement- [email protected]