These configurable bots could launch flat and then be assembled in space. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. Breaking space news, ...

CAROLINA BEACH, N.C. — New shape-shifting ‘Transformer bots’ have been inspired by origami. The versatile robots could transform space travel, say scientists. Taking inspiration from the ancient ...

Inspired by the paper-folding art of origami, North Carolina State University engineers have discovered a way to make a single plastic cubed structure transform into more than 1,000 configurations ...

Transformer bots can form more than 1,000 shapes. (Jie Yin, NC State University via SWNS) By Stephen Beech via SWNS New shape-shifting ‘Transformer bots’ have been inspired by origami. The versatile ...

The next generation of soft robots might be folding and sliding as effortlessly as living tissue, say a team of engineers who have created “magnetic muscles” with 3D printing. Filling elastic, ...

Researchers at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have built a robot that can self-assemble and move without human intervention. WSJ's Robert Lee Hotz reports. Photo: Set ...

A new 3D printing technique can create paper-thin "magnetic muscles," which can be applied to origami structures to make them move. Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest sci-tech news updates. By ...

North Carolina, USA — October 2025. Researchers at North Carolina State University have created paper-thin “magnetic muscles” that can power origami structures. The technology uses magnetic films to ...

The combined mental prowess of Harvard University and MIT has yielded a special kind of self-assembling robot that folds up like origami and crawls away. The prototype, which is built almost entirely ...

A crawler robot made with the miura-ori origami pattern. The dark sections are affixed with thin "magnetic muscles" made by co-extruding rubber polymer and ferromagnetic particles, which move the ...

New shape-shifting ‘Transformer bots’ have been inspired by origami. The versatile robots could transform space travel, say scientists. Taking inspiration from the ancient Japanese art of ...