Future Technology: Nanotech Yarn behaves like Super-Strong Muscle

I must say that upon reading this article, I was both amazed and excited.  I can't remember reading something that has such profound potential implications within the rhealm of artificial tissue.  Although it is quite early and perhaps too premature to extrapolate future breakthroughs, this is unquestionably a very powerful discovery. 

I had initially tried to condense the information into a specific post, however it is difficult to express this information better than was already done in the original article...therefore I have decided to insert only a few comments and simply attach a link to the article itself.  Given copyright procedure, it is not possible to re-print the article directly here therefore I encourage anyone reading to click the link and have a look...it is quite astounding! 

Although from a non-scientific perspective, it is likely to be interesting...it is probably more exciting to the slightly more "nerdy" enthusiasts.  I make this comment for the following reasons:

1)  The elemental component of Biotensegrity within the carbon nanotubes
The carbon nanotubes mentioned in the article (and illustrated in the video) essentially demonstrate the elemental architecture based on biotensegrity (the combination of tension and compression to form a stable structure).  The fact that the fundamental framework of biotensegrity is found at the microscopic level lends further evidence to the fact that biotensegrity is the "true" biomechanics  from which the human organism is derived. 

2) The passive 4-Bar Mechanics concept
I had recently been sent a video of a lecture given by Dr. Steven M. Levin who described the concept of human locomotion as being a derivative of 4-Bar Mechanics.  I would not be able to do credit to 4-Bar Mechanics within the construct of this post, but I encourage all of the "nerds" to look it up and review it.  The contraction / expansion characteristic demonstrated by the carbon nanotube is remarkably similar to this 4-BAr mechanism.  Given that it is an off-shoot of the biotensegrity concept (Dr. Levin is the creator of the biotensegrity concept), it is further demonstration of the implications of the biotensegrity concept within the context of human functional anatomy

3) Further indications of the importance of structural architecture in human movement
I think this is perhpas the most profound "piece" I take from this article.  It is quite well understood that the majority of focus and study is placed squarely on the neurological / electrical contributions to human movement and rehabilitation.  Although it deserves exhaustive study and attention, the actual amount is disproportionate to the amount of study placed on the architecture itself. To put it simply, it isn't simply about getting the right signal to the muscle...the fundamentals of how the architecture is arranged plays an equal (if not more) important role.

In summary, I hope that this information receives the attention it deserves.  Historically, the more technical (or "nerdy") these posts are, the less they are read...but it IS definitely a potential ground-breaker in my view.  The direct implications are enormous in their own right, but the potential off-shoots of study that will be derived from this could be extraordinary. 

I will attach some useful links to the end of this post that should serve as useful references for this article.   Please click the link to view the article...and enjoy!

Nanotech yarn behaves like super-strong muscle

Cheers!

See relevant links below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four-bar_linkage

http://www.biotensegrity.com/