(gloves inspired by Octopus pick up various underwater objects in the laboratory.) Inspired by octopus, a research team led by Michael Bartlett of Virginia Tech University in the United States has developed an octopus bionic glove that can firmly grasp underwater objects. Their research was selected as the cover of progress of science on the 13th. Anyone who has tried to catch a swimming fish in the water knows that it is difficult for human fingers to grasp underwater objects on land. Bartlett, an assistant professor in the Department of mechanical engineering, said that in nature, the strong adhesion of octopus is its inspiration. Octopus, also known as octopus, is one of the most unique creatures on earth. Their eight arms can catch countless objects in the aquatic environment. These arms are covered with suction cups controlled by muscles and nervous system. Each suction cup is shaped like the end of a plunger, providing strong grasping ability. After the wide outer edge of the suction cup forms a seal with the object, the muscle contracts and relaxes the cup-shaped area behind the edge to increase and release pressure. When many suction cups stick to objects, a strong adhesive will be produced. Researchers said that octopus can quickly activate and release adhesives as needed, and can also control more than 2000 suction cups on eight arms by processing information from different chemical and mechanical sensors. This time, researchers designed a glove that can play the same function as the octopus suction cup, called "octa glove". By combining soft and responsive adhesive materials with embedded electronic devices (a set of micro lidar optical proximity sensors), researchers have successfully simulated the nervous and muscle systems of octopus. Just move the glove to an object, and it will grasp the object. In the whole process, the wearer does not need to operate any buttons. In the test, researchers quickly picked up and released flat objects, metal toys, cylinders, crank spoons, and ultra soft hydrogel balls with gloves. By reconfiguring the sensor network to use all sensors for object detection, they can also grab larger objects, such as plates, boxes and bowls. Flat, cylindrical, convex, and spherical objects composed of hard and soft materials are adhered to and grasped, even if the user does not pick up the object by grasping. Researchers said that in the future, this kind of gloves may be used in the field of underwater grasping soft robots, as well as in related assistive technology and medical care, as well as in the assembly and manipulation of wet objects. (Xinhua News Agency)