Origami has inpsired a new kind of microbot that can fold itself. It could be useful in fields like medical equipment and infrastructure sensing.

"This opens the door to printing soft robotics that could swim like a jellyfish, jump like a cricket, or transport liquids like the heart."

With a charge, researchers got microparticles to form via self-assembly into complex crystals that mimic gemstones like opals.

A new algorithm could help scientists better understand how zebrafish get their stripes, as well as how other patterns in nature self-assemble.

The "Cheerio effect," a phenomenon that causes small objects to cluster on the surface of a liquid, could help design small aquatic robots, researchers say.

Researchers have taken inspiration from the Japanese paper art of kirigami to make robotic devices that fold themselves into new shapes with a bit of heat.

Microscopic bottlebrush polymers that resemble their larger kitchen cousins could offer exquisite control over coatings, researchers say.

"If you blend a computer, you'd end up with tiny bits of computer.... But, lo and behold, the cytoplasm reorganizes."

A new method for 4D printing, which makes objects that can change shapes based on the environment, could be useful in electronics, smart fabrics, and more.

"In a single day, on a regular computer, we were able to study more different kinds of particles than have been reported in the last decade."