A research project led by the University of Texas discovered that artificial muscles can be made from fishing line. To make the muscles, the team attached one end of a fishing line to the tip of a power drill. The other end that is hanging below it was held in place by a heavy weight.
Once the drill was powered up, the line began twisting along its length. When it could no longer twist, the line bunched up into a series of coils. The scientists then heated those coils with a hair dryer to permanently set them.
If heat is subsequently added to the coiled fishing line, it coils even tighter thus contracting like a muscle. According to a published paper on the research, "it can lift loads over 100 times heavier than can human muscle of the same length and weight, and generate 5.3 kilowatts of mechanical work per kilogram [2.2 lb] of muscle weight, similar to that produced by a jet engine." Furthermore, the research project proved how a number of those artificial muscles can be weaved together for extra power.
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