Recent Episodes
Silly Putty - Not Just a Toy
Dave- did you ever get silly putty in your stockings? Wow, that's going back. I did and it came in the same egg packaging you see today. I loved shaping it and bouncing it in the house which drove my mom nuts. Well, this toy from the 1950s is involved in an invention that could have many biomedical applications.
First a quick history lesson on silly putty. In nineteen forty-three there was a shortage of rubber and industrial scientists looking for synthetic rubber substitutes accidentally came up with a mixture of boric acid and silicone oil. It didn't work as rubber but when rolled into a ball, it bounced really well. They gave it to some kids, word got out, and the rest is history.
Fast forward to two thousand twenty-two and add a compound called graphene. Graphene is made up of carbon and is stronger than steel, lightweight, flexible, and conducts electricity. It's also the world's first 2D material and one million times thinner than the diameter of a human hair. Combined with silly putty, it retains the properties of Silly Putty but is now extremely sensitive to pressure. The slightest pressure changes its electrical resistance.
Press a bit over someone's carotid artery and you can measure not only pulse, but blood pressure. This means we can make very sensitive electromechanical sensors to measure all sorts of biological functions. Just how sensitive is it? Enough to detect the footsteps of a tiny spider.
You can now hear additional episodes on many of your favorite podcast providers - search for Medical Discovery News!
More Information
Supercharged silly putty can detect spider footsteps
The future of blood pressure readings could come in the form of supercharged silly putty-or as the scientists who created it call it, G-putty. So what turns silly putty into G-putty? Graphene. The thinnest, strongest material known to exist, graphene is also extremely flexible. It's made of a single layer of bonded carbon atoms, and conducts electricity remarkably efficiently...
Sensitive electromechanical sensors using viscoelastic graphene-polymer nanocomposites
Many composites blend stiff materials, such as glass or carbon fibers, into a softer elastic polymer matrix to generate a material with better overall mechanical toughness. Boland et al. added graphene to a lightly cross-linked silicone polymer (also known as Silly Putty). The resulting composite has unusual mechanical properties, allowing the manufacture of strain sensors that can detect respiration and the footsteps of spiders...
Adding A Funny Form Of Carbon To Silly Putty Creates A Heart Monitor
Scientists in Ireland are using a rather unexpected material to make an extremely sensitive pressure detector: Silly Putty. The Irish researchers combined the kids' plaything with a special form of carbon, and came up with a remarkable new material - one they think could someday be useful in making medical devices...
Graphene-Spiked Silly Putty Picks up Human Pulse
A dash of graphene can transform the stretchy goo known as Silly Putty into a pressure sensor able to monitor a human pulse or even track the dainty steps of a small spider...
