This skin-soft, steel-strong robotic arm can lift 1,000x its weight

South Korean researchers have created a magnetic composite artificial muscle that combines skin-like softness with exceptional strength. This material can rapidly adjust its stiffness in response to magnetic fields, withstanding loads comparable to automobiles. The muscle can alter its stiffness by 2,700 times and softness by eightfold, resisting tensile forces 1,000 times its weight and compressive forces 3,690 times its weight. With high energy conversion efficiency and vibration-damping properties, this innovation could greatly impact soft robotics, wearables, and medical devices.