University of Texas nanotechnologist Ray Baughman came up with a low-tech way. He took a mat of chemically grown nanotubes, grabbed a clump of them and twisted them with a motor. The resulting yarn could be woven into a fabric.
It might also make a good artificial muscle. A jolt of electricity causes the yarn to contract with 100 times more force than a human muscle. Baughman now has a grant from the Pentagon to develop an “exoskeleton” capable of amplifying the natural strength of a soldier.
