Building robotic grippers that can firmly grasp heavy objects and also gently grasp delicate ones usually requires complicated sets of gears, hinges and motors. But it turns out that it’s also ...

The art of origami goes back centuries — enough time to explore every possible crease that can be made in a sheet of paper, one might think. And yet, researchers have now found a new class of origami ...

These could be the stuff of nightmares — if they weren’t so damn cute. Scientists at the University of Washington have developed adorable little electronic “microfliers,” the size of a postage stamp, ...

University of Washington (UW) scientists have introduced a remarkable advancement in micro-robotics, crafting battery-free, tiny robots inspired by the folding patterns of leaves. University of ...

Smooth operator: Morph can shift between eggbox and Miura-ori origami patterns. (Courtesy: Allison Carter) An origami folding pattern that produces a highly-tuneable metamaterial has been discovered ...

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The way that an earwig insect folds its wings could be applied to how engineers preprogram technology to perform certain tasks, according to research published on March 23 in ...

For an object we carry, curse, and replace with alarming regularity, the umbrella has barely evolved. Too small, too flimsy, ...

(Nanowerk Spotlight) For centuries, origami, the ancient art of paper folding, was used to create decorative figures for crafts and artwork. In recent decades however, origami principles have inspired ...

To quickly unfurl and refold their wings, earwigs stretch the rules of origami. Yes, those garden pests that scurry out from under overturned flowerpots can also fly. Because earwigs spend most of ...