In the Artificial Muscle Research Institute at the University of New Mexico, electricity is in the air. When lab director Mohsen Shahinpoor applies a voltage to an artificial "hand" made of a polymer-metal composite, its fingers curl into a fist. Poke around the lab and you'll see robotic fish swimming, wings flapping, and arms lifting-all gaining their muscle from electrically activated polymers. You've seen robots before, but there is something different about these. They look alive.

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