Researchers at MIT and Harvard's Wyss Institute and School of Engineering and Applied Science have created a crawling robot that is able to fold itself, which the analysts say demonstrates the potential for self-folding machines and independent assembly.
As CNET reports, there have been other origami robots made, but this is the first that can put itself together and move without the help of a human. These autonomous robots could soon be dropped into tunnels or other places where it's difficult to send a person, and assemble themselves.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Iran's allies in the Middle East and around the worldThe Explainer Tehran will look to Middle East proxies and other authoritarian 'Crink' states for backing in its war with Israel
-
Sudoku medium: June 17, 2025The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
-
Crossword: June 17, 2025The Week's daily crossword
-
Dehorning rhinos sharply cuts poaching, study findsSpeed Read The painless procedure may be an effective way to reduce the widespread poaching of rhinoceroses
-
Breakthrough gene-editing treatment saves babyspeed read KJ Muldoon was healed from a rare genetic condition
-
Sea lion proves animals can keep a beatspeed read A sea lion named Ronan beat a group of college students in a rhythmic dance-off, says new study
-
Humans heal much slower than other mammalsSpeed Read Slower healing may have been an evolutionary trade-off when we shed fur for sweat glands
-
Novel 'bone collector' caterpillar wears its preySpeed Read Hawaiian scientists discover a carnivorous caterpillar that decorates its shell with the body parts of dead insects
-
Scientists find hint of alien life on distant worldSpeed Read NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has detected a possible signature of life on planet K2-18b
-
Katy Perry, Gayle King visit space on Bezos rocketSpeed Read Six well-known women went into lower orbit for 11 minutes
-
Scientists map miles of wiring in mouse brainSpeed Read Researchers have created the 'largest and most detailed wiring diagram of a mammalian brain to date,' said Nature
