|
遙控捕蠅草 俗話說(shuō)“蜂蜜能比醋捕到更多蒼蠅”（譯者注：原文為“You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. ”意指溫柔有禮比尖酸刻薄更易奏效）。但如果你有一株可以遙控的捕蠅植物呢？研究人員設(shè)計(jì)了一個(gè)仿生系統(tǒng)，或者說(shuō)一個(gè)人工神經(jīng)元，可以用來(lái)觸發(fā)捕蠅草的閉合。 瑞典林雪平大學(xué)（Link?ping University）的副教授西蒙娜·法比亞諾（Simone Fabiano）以神經(jīng)細(xì)胞為生物藍(lán)圖設(shè)計(jì)了一個(gè)陷阱彈簧裝置：“生物神經(jīng)元的工作方式是，隨著時(shí)間的推移它們會(huì)整合不同的輸入信息，執(zhí)行計(jì)算，并通過(guò)電壓脈沖將結(jié)果傳達(dá)給其他神經(jīng)元。” 現(xiàn)在，標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的硅基系統(tǒng)也可以傳遞電脈沖。但如果你想將它們與活的生物結(jié)合起來(lái)，生產(chǎn)仿生假肢或設(shè)計(jì)任何類(lèi)型的大腦/機(jī)器接口，它們還是存在一些限制，“比如剛性太高、生物相容性較差、電路結(jié)構(gòu)復(fù)雜，運(yùn)行機(jī)制與生物系統(tǒng)也有著根本上的不同?！?/span> 為了使生物整合順利進(jìn)行，法比亞諾用聚合物構(gòu)建了他的系統(tǒng)，這些聚合物既可以傳導(dǎo)電子（就像日常的電子設(shè)備那樣），也可以傳導(dǎo)離子，也就是……[查看全文] A Remote-Controlled Carnivorous Plant? Karen Hopkin: This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin. They say you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. But what if you had access to a remote-controlled carnivorous plant? Because researchers have engineered a bio-inspired system…an artificial neuron, if you will…that can trigger the snap of a Venus flytrap. Simone Fabiano: Hi, my name is Simone Fabiano. I'm associate professor at Link?ping University in Sweden. Hopkin: Fabiano designed the trap-springing device using nerve cells as a kind of bio-based blueprint. Fabiano: The way our biological neurons work is that they integrate information from different inputs over time, perform computation, and communicate the result to other neurons by means of voltage pulses. Hopkin: Now, standard, silicon-based systems can also deliver electrical pulses. But if you want to couple them with something living…to produce bionic prosthetics or engineer any kind of brain/machine interface…well, they suffer from several limitations… Fabiano: …such as rigidity, poor biocompatibility, complex circuit structures, and operation mechanisms that are fundamentally different from those of biological systems. Hopkin: To smooth biological integration, Fabiano built his system from polymers that conduct both electrons…like, everyday electronics…and ions, which is...[full transcript] “ Harikesh, P.C., Yang, CY., Tu, D. et al. Organic electrochemical neurons and synapses with ion mediated spiking. Nat Commun 13, 901 (2022). 封面圖來(lái)源：Unsplash |
|
|
