Near future
No Result
View All Result
22 September 2023
  • Home
  • Tech
  • Health
  • Environment
  • Energy
  • Transports
  • Spazio
  • AI
  • concepts
  • H+
Understand, anticipate, improve the future.
CES2023 / Coronavirus / Russia-Ukraine
Near future
  • Home
  • Tech
  • Health
  • Environment
  • Energy
  • Transports
  • Spazio
  • AI
  • concepts
  • H+

Understand, anticipate, improve the future.

No Result
View All Result
Environment , Technology

With the motion sensor the "cyborg" mussel acts as a pollution detector

A natural feature of freshwater mussels allows, thanks to a motion sensor, to obtain precise monitoring of river pollution.

March 25 2021
Gianluca RiccioGianluca Riccio
⚪ 3 minutes
Share12Pin3Tweet8SendShare2ShareShare2
environmental pollution motion sensor

READ IN:

When toxins are present in a stream, freshwater mussels are one of the first creatures to react. For this reason, the researchers decided to exploit this attitude.

A new motion sensor mounted on mussels has been designed with this very purpose: it will make them a means of detecting water pollution early.

Mussel life

Mussels feed by opening their shells, then filtering tiny organisms out of the water. And although mollusks typically live in groups (also called beds), members of those groups usually don't all feed at the same time. This means that they typically open and close their shells independently of each other.

But there is a peculiarity: if a noxious water-based substance flows through a group of mussels, they will all suddenly close their shells at the same time. And this is where the new motion sensor comes into play.

A motion sensor for cyborg mussels

motion sensor
One of the 'cyborg mussels' equipped with a motion sensor

Designed by a team from North Carolina State University, the motion sensor consists of two connected inertial measurement units (IMUs). One IMU is attached to one side of the mussel shell and the other to the other side. Each of the sides contains an accelerometer and a magnetometer.

The article continues after the related links

Remote work, halved emissions

ePANTS, the US government bets on networked clothing

When the mussel closes the shell, the two IMUs detect the action, as the angles of both sides of the shell suddenly change. Therefore, if multiple mussels in a single bed are equipped with sensors, it is possible to tell if they close all their shells at the same time.

All sensors for a group could be wired to a pole-mounted solar-powered processor within a stream. That unit in turn would continuously transmit data over a cellular network. If a group shell closure was detected, authorities could immediately begin looking for the source of the toxin that allegedly caused it.

Laboratory tests on the motion sensor

When tested on freshwater mussels in fish tanks, the motion sensor constantly detected shell movements down to less than one degree. This technology could conceivably track dozens of "cyborg mussels" simultaneously, allowing for granular precision monitoring.

"Our goal is to create an 'Internet of mussels' and monitor their individual and collective behavior," says prof. Alper Bozkurt, who leads the study together with prof. Jay Levine. "This will eventually allow us to use them as environmental sensors or sentinels."

A paper on the research was recently published in the journal IEEE Sensor Letters. 

Tags: biorobotpollutionsensors

Latest news

  • Jeddah Tower, construction site of the one kilometer high skyscraper reopens
  • Spider silk from modified silkworms: stronger than Kevlar and 100% natural
  • VIR-1388, HIV vaccine being tested in the USA and South Africa
  • MOWT, innovative floating hydroelectric for slow-flowing waters
  • CRAFT, what stage is the Chinese project to build an artificial Sun?
  • Remote work, halved emissions
  • Shipping pallets in the digital age: how the Internet has revolutionized the logistics landscape
  • BMW 7 Series Protection: the sedan that defies grenades and flamethrowers
  • First nerve networks 3D printed with bioink
  • LCLS-II: the most powerful X-ray laser in the world turned on


GPT Chat Megaeasy!

Concrete guide for those approaching this artificial intelligence tool, also designed for the school world: many examples of applications, usage indications and ready-to-use instructions for training and interrogating Chat GPT.

To submit articles, disclose the results of a research or scientific discoveries write to the editorial staff

Enter the Telegram channel of Futuroprossimo, click here. Or follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Mastodon e LinkedIn.

FacebookTwitterInstagramTelegramLinkedInMastodonPinterestTikTok

The daily tomorrow.


Futuroprossimo.it provides news on the future of technology, science and innovation: if there is something that is about to arrive, here it has already arrived. FuturoProssimo is part of the network ForwardTo, studies and skills for future scenarios.

  • Environment
  • Architecture
  • Artificial intelligence
  • Gadgets
  • concepts
  • Design
  • Medicine
  • Spazio
  • Robotica
  • Work
  • Transports
  • Energy
  • Edition Francaise
  • Deutsche Ausgabe
  • Japanese version
  • English Edition
  • Portuguese Edition
  • Read more
  • Spanish edition

Subscribe to our newsletter

  • The Editor
  • Advertising on FP
  • Privacy Policy

© 2023 Near future - Creative Commons License
This work is distributed under license Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International.

No Result
View All Result
Understand, anticipate, improve the future.
  • Home
  • Tech
  • Health
  • Environment
  • Energy
  • Transports
  • Spazio
  • AI
  • concepts
  • H+