Made of gold, powered by heart cells of rats – meet the robo-ray
by Ian Sample Science editor from Technology | The Guardian on (#1KKM3)
Tiny robotic stingray gives hope to scientists they can create artificial creatures and ultimately build a human heart
With a flash of light and a ripple of fin, the small aquatic robot set off across the water and into the annals of science as the latest advance in artificial creatures.
A melding of tissue and technology, the robot in question resembles a miniature stingray. It has a thin rubbery body, a skeleton of gold, and an unusual power source: a sheet of heart cells that contract when illuminated with pulses of blue light.