Robot fish invention gobbles microplastics to clean oceans and save real fish
Robot fish invention gobbles microplastics to clean oceans and save real fish
Researchers in China have developed a school of robot fish that ingest microplastics as they swim around.
robot fish microplastic.jpg
The team from Sichuan University in southwest China hope to use the robofish to clean up polluted oceans and save the lives of living fish, while also providing real-time feedback about maritime pollution.
Soft to touch and just 1.3 centimetres (0.5 inch) in size, these robots already suck up microplastics in shallow water.
The team aims to enable them to collect microplastics in deeper water and provide information to analyse marine pollution in real time, said Wang Yuyan, one of the researchers who developed the robot.
“We developed such a lightweight miniaturised robot. It can be used in many ways, for example in biomedical or hazardous operations, such a small robot that can be localised to a part of your body to help you eliminate some disease.”
The black robot fish is irradiated by a light, helping it to flap its fins and wiggle its body. Scientists can control the fish using the light to avoid it crashing into other fish or ships.
If it is accidentally eaten by other fish, it can be digested without harm as it is made from polyurethane, which is also biocompatible, Wang said.
The fish is able to absorb pollutants and recover itself even when it is damaged. It can swim up to 2.76 body lengths per second, faster than most artificial soft robots.
“We are mostly working on collection (of microplastics). It is like a sampling robot and it can be used repeatedly,” she said.
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) define microplastics as any fragments of plastic that are less than 5mm in length. They include microfibres from clothing, plastic beads from cosmetics, as well as degraded plastics from food packaging and other sources.
A 2019 study from the EU found that microplastics are present in every part of the environment, though the full risks to marine life are still unknown.
They have been found embedded in respiratory and digestive tracts of fish, crabs and other crustaceans, which can then be passed on to animals who eat them – including humans.
Reference: Anthony Cuthbertson
Articles - Latest
- Earthquakes can trigger quartz into forming giant gold nuggets, study finds
- Linda Nolan, singer and television personality, dies aged 65
- Sly Stone, pioneering funk and soul musician, dies aged 82
- Dangers of an overloaded car include:
- Natural Disaster today
- Japan earthquake: Kushiro shakes for 'too long' as 6.1 mag tremor hits
- 'Cult' members jailed over coroner kidnap plot
- Flood risk threatens Swiss valley after glacier destroys village
- Thailand Grapples with Floods and Economic Shifts: Government Response, Community Resilience, and Market Predictions
- Powerful hailstorm floods buildings and streets in Gniezno
- The Significance of the 49-Day Journey After Death
- Killing prisoners for transplants: Forced organ harvesting in China
- Southern Japan hit by 6.6-magnitude quake near Nankai Trough, tsunami warnings lifted
- Peru’s coastline battered by tsunami-like waves one day after country declares environmental emergency
- California fires live updates: ‘Dangerous’ winds return as residents are warned over threat of new wildfires
- Osibisa founding member and singer Teddy Osei dead at 88
- Oliviero Toscani, photographer behind shock Benetton ads, dead at 82
- California LA Mayor Karen Bass awkwardly ignores questions from reporter about California fires
- UK set for more freezing weather as homes and businesses deal with flooding
- Jean-Marie Le Pen dead at 96: His political career through the years
- Jimmy Carter, former US president, dies aged 100
- ‘Jazz’s most significant composer’ Benny Golson dies at 95
- Billionaire founder of fashion chain Mango dies in accident
Articles - Most Read
- Main
- Contact Us
- The science behind Ouija boards
- Cosmic Consciousness - What is Cosmic Consciousness-2
- Cosmic Consciousness-Introduction
- Cosmic Consciousness - Introduction-2
- MASSIVE 6.1 MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE HITS NEW ZEALAND AS NATION STILL REELING FROM CYCLONE
- ARCHAEOLOGISTS UNRAVEL THE TRUTH OF APHRODITE, GODDESS OF LOVE, ON VALENTINE'S DAY
- Cosmic Consciousness First Words - 1V - 2
- The Human Condition-Thomas Keating
- Cosmic Consciousness First Words - V -
- Cosmic Consciousness V - 2
- Cosmic consciousness - First Words - IV
- Shakyamuni Buddha or India the 1st “Black Revolutionary Hero.”
- Cosmic Consciousness - What is Cosmic Consciousness?
- Evolution and Devolution-Chapter 2
- The Human Condition-2-Thomas Keating
- The Human Condition - Thomas keating-3
- Cosmic Consciousness-On the Plane of Self Consciousness
- Drinking From The Mountain Stream - Milarepa
- The Human Condition - 4
- Cosmic Consciousness - 3 - On the Plane of Self Consciousness
- The Human Condition - 6
- Evolution and Devolution-Chapter 1
- On the Plane of Self Consciousness - 2
- The Human Condition - 5
- Milarepa's World-2
- Milarepa's World
- Contemplation and the Divine Therapy - 2
- The Buddhist System of Liberation - 2
- On the Plane of Self Consciousness IV
- The Buddhist System of Liberation
- JERRY RAWLINGS, GHANAIAN STRONG MAN WHO CAME TO POWER IN A COUP BUT INTRODUCED DEMOCRACY – OBITUARY
- On the Plane of Self Consciousness IV - 2
