Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Free-form Light Actuators — Fabrication and Control of Actuation in Microscopic Scale

Free-form Light Actuators — Fabrication and Control of Actuation in Microscopic Scale

Here, we fabricate 3D polymeric micro/nano structures in which both the shape and the molecular alignment can be engineered with nanometer scale accuracy by the use of direct laser writing. Light induced deformation of several types of liquid crystalline elastomer microstructures can be controlled in the microscopic...

Fabrication Process of Silicone-based Dielectric Elastomer Actuators

Fabrication Process of Silicone-based Dielectric Elastomer Actuators

This manuscript shows the fabrication process for the manufacture of dielectric elastomer soft actuators based on silicone membranes. The three key stages of production are presented in detail: blade casting of thin silicone membranes; pad printing of compliant electrodes; and the assembly of all the...

Rapid Manufacturing of Thin Soft Pneumatic Actuators and Robots

Rapid Manufacturing of Thin Soft Pneumatic Actuators and Robots

This protocol describes a method for rapid manufacturing of soft pneumatic actuators and robots with a thin form factor. The fabrication method starts with lamination of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) sheets followed by laser cutting/welding of a two-dimensional pattern to form actuators and...

Aqueous Droplets Used as Enzymatic Microreactors and Their Electromagnetic Actuation

Aqueous Droplets Used as Enzymatic Microreactors and Their Electromagnetic Actuation

Lab-in-a-drop reaction systems allow the versatile implementation of complex reactions in a microfluidic scale. An automated actuation platform consisting of a 3 x 3 matrix of electromagnetic coils was developed and successfully used to merge two 10 µL microreactors and thereby initiate an enzymatic reaction in the resulting liquid...

Oscillations In An LC Circuit

Oscillations In An LC Circuit

An idealized LC circuit of zero resistance can oscillate without any source of emf by shifting the energy stored in the circuit between the electric and magnetic fields. In such an LC circuit, if the capacitor contains a charge q before the switch is closed, then all the energy of the circuit is initially stored in the electric field of the capacitor. This energy is given by

Forced Oscillations

Forced Oscillations

When an oscillator is forced with a periodic driving force, the motion may seem chaotic. The motions of such oscillators are known as transients. After the transients die out, the oscillator reaches a steady state, where the motion is periodic, and the displacement is determined.

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Interplay Between Vertical and Horizontal Schemes of Computation: From Bayesian Inference to Quantum Logic via Gluing Boolean Algebras.

Entropy (Basel, Switzerland)·2026

Same author

Comprehensive hallmark gene sequence, genomic and structural analysis clarifies new and established taxa within the <i>Picornavirales</i>.

Virus evolution·2026

Same author

AI-generated clinical summaries: errors and susceptibility to speech and speaker variability.

BMJ health & care informatics·2026

Same author

Discriminating eclipse cues from weather.

Trends in plant science·2026

Same author

Revealing deep evolutionary relationships between RNA viruses using predicted structural models of viral RNA polymerases.

Molecular biology and evolution·2026

Same author

Observation of phase correlations in ferrofluids.

Scientific reports·2026

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 19, 2026

Free-form Light Actuators — Fabrication and Control of Actuation in Microscopic Scale

Free-form Light Actuators — Fabrication and Control of Actuation in Microscopic Scale

Published on: May 25, 2016

Marimo machines: oscillators, biosensors and actuators.

Neil Phillips¹, Thomas C Draper¹, Richard Mayne^2,1

¹1Unconventional Computing Laboratory, University of the West of England, Coldharbour Lane, Bristol, BS16 1QY UK.

Journal of Biological Engineering

|September 12, 2019

Summary

Marimo algae

Keywords:

Algae Bioactuator Biomimicry Biomotor Biosensor Logic gate Marimo Oscillator Processor TRIZ Unconventional Computing

More Related Videos

Fabrication Process of Silicone-based Dielectric Elastomer Actuators

Fabrication Process of Silicone-based Dielectric Elastomer Actuators

Published on: February 1, 2016

Rapid Manufacturing of Thin Soft Pneumatic Actuators and Robots

Rapid Manufacturing of Thin Soft Pneumatic Actuators and Robots

Published on: November 8, 2019

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jan 19, 2026

Free-form Light Actuators — Fabrication and Control of Actuation in Microscopic Scale

Free-form Light Actuators — Fabrication and Control of Actuation in Microscopic Scale

Published on: May 25, 2016

Fabrication Process of Silicone-based Dielectric Elastomer Actuators

Fabrication Process of Silicone-based Dielectric Elastomer Actuators

Published on: February 1, 2016

Rapid Manufacturing of Thin Soft Pneumatic Actuators and Robots

Rapid Manufacturing of Thin Soft Pneumatic Actuators and Robots

Published on: November 8, 2019

Area of Science:

Biotechnology and biomimetics
Synthetic biology
Bio-actuation

Background:

Marimo (Aegagropila linnaei) are spherical colonies of green algae.
Photosynthesis in Marimo produces gas bubbles, altering buoyancy.
This buoyancy change enables floating in light and sinking in darkness.

Purpose of the Study:

To harness Marimo's buoyancy changes for novel applications.
To investigate factors influencing Marimo movement for prototype development.
To design and demonstrate Marimo-based bio-actuators and bioprocessors.

Main Methods:

Studying environmental factors affecting Marimo buoyancy and movement.
Designing and constructing prototypes for Marimo-based devices.
Developing and testing Marimo-based oscillators and logic gates.

Main Results:

Demonstrated Marimo's potential for creating actuators, biosensors, and bioprocessors.
Identified key factors influencing Marimo movement for controlled applications.
Successfully designed and optimized a bio-oscillator and proposed various logic gates.

Conclusions:

Marimo's light-dependent buoyancy is a viable mechanism for bio-actuation.
Novel Marimo-based actuators with enhanced bubble retention were developed.
Marimo can be engineered to perform complex functions like oscillations and logic operations.