Actuators

“The primary mirror is a technological marvel. The lightweight mirrors, coatings, actuators and mechanisms, electronics and thermal blankets when fully deployed form a single precise mirror that is truly remarkable,” said Lee Feinberg, optical telescope element manager for Webb at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Presently, prosthetics rely on relatively heavy hydraulic, electric or pneumatic actuators to flex artificial fingers, but scientists at Germany's Saarland University are experimenting with much lighter fibers made of a nickel-titanium alloy that change shape when connected to a source of electricity.