Harvard Scientists Create Hemihelix Using Rubber Bands
Posted on April 24, 2014
Harvard scientists made a hemihelix using rubber bands. The shape is rarely seen in nature. The researchers stretched, joined, and then released rubber strips in the experiments. The videos below shows a hemihelix with only one perversion and hemihelix with multiple perversions. The scientists say that knowing how to make these types of structures could enable them to mimic the geometric features in new molecules. This could lead to breakthroughs in modern nanodevices.
Katia Bertoldi, associate professor of applied mechanics at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), says in a statement, "Once you are able to fabricate these complex shapes and control them, the next step will be to see if they have unusual properties; for example, to look at their effect on the propagation of light."
A research paper on the structural transition from helices to hemihelices was published here in PLoS One.
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