Blurring boundaries between animate & inanimate - Science Nation

Scientists at the Bioinspired Soft Materials Center at Brandeis University are using fundamentally new approaches to study bioinspired soft materials, with the ultimate goal of developing new materials for artificial muscles, self-pumping fluids and self-healing materials. The center is among the Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (MRSECs) supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF). It provides a multidisciplinary education for students in physics, chemistry and biology that will contribute to the workforce at the research frontiers and also contribute to the needs of emerging biomaterials industries. MRSECs support interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary materials research and education of the highest quality while addressing fundamental problems in science and engineering that are important to society The research in this episode was supported by NSF award #0820492, Constraints and Frustration in Nano-Structured and Bio-Molecular Materials. NSF Grant URL: http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0820492&HistoricalAwards=false Miles O'Brien, Science Nation Correspondent Ann Kellan, Science Nation Producer