Saving the oceans with tiny fish shaped robots
Every year millions of tons of plastics end up in the world’s oceans causing untold damage to the ecosystem and contributing to disease and pollution. But Chinese scientists have come up with what they hope will be one step towards removing this rubbish and they’ve used one of the ocean’s most numerous living creatures as inspiration.
Fish shaped robots that collect microplastics from hard to reach areas of the seabed have been created. These self propelled small machines absorb polystyrene that is harmful to marine animals when ingested. Just 15mm long they are made of carefully created materials that can, remarkably, repair themselves when they are damaged.
