Knitting can be used for a lot of purposes other than making a warm hat or a pair of socks. And scientists keep coming up with ways to use knitting in medical procedures or in other cool ways that have the potential to make the world better for people.
Check out this story from Science Advances (via Science magazine) about knit and woven fabric that responds to electrical impulses and could be used one day as a form of synthetic muscle.
Researchers coated cellulose yarn with a polymer called polypyrrole, which stretches in response to electricity. They found that the yarn was stronger when woven and more flexible when knit, so it could be helpful in forming muscle-like attachments in future exoskeletons or prosthetic limbs.
Pretty cool, huh? Next time someone tells you knitting is old-fashioned, you’ll know how to respond.
[Photo via Science magazine.]
Leave a Reply