https://sadmin.brightcove.com/js/BrightcoveExperiences.js
https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.12.0/jquery.min.js
var init_twitter = function(){if (typeof window.twttr === “undefined”) {window.twttr = (function(d, s, id) {var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],t = window.twttr || {};if (d.getElementById(id)) return;js = d.createElement(s);js.id = id;js.src = “http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js”;fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);t._e = [];t.ready = function(f) {t._e.push(f);}; return t;}(document, “script”, “twitter-wjs”));}};init_twitter();
//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.5
?@font-face{font-family:”LAHeadline”;src:url(/2017/11/27/inspired-by-origami-scientists-build-artificial-muscle-that-lifts-1000-times-its-own-weight/&);src:url(/2017/11/27/inspired-by-origami-scientists-build-artificial-muscle-that-lifts-1000-times-its-own-weight/&) format(“embedded-opentype”),url(/2017/11/27/inspired-by-origami-scientists-build-artificial-muscle-that-lifts-1000-times-its-own-weight/&) format(“woff”),url(/2017/11/27/inspired-by-origami-scientists-build-artificial-muscle-that-lifts-1000-times-its-own-weight/&) format(“truetype”);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal}@font-face{font-family:”Belizio”;src:url(/2017/11/27/inspired-by-origami-scientists-build-artificial-muscle-that-lifts-1000-times-its-own-weight/&);src:url(/2017/11/27/inspired-by-origami-scientists-build-artificial-muscle-that-lifts-1000-times-its-own-weight/&) format(“embedded-opentype”),url(/2017/11/27/inspired-by-origami-scientists-build-artificial-muscle-that-lifts-1000-times-its-own-weight/&) format(“woff”),url(/2017/11/27/inspired-by-origami-scientists-build-artificial-muscle-that-lifts-1000-times-its-own-weight/&) format(“truetype”);font-style:normal;font-weight:normal}.clearfix{clear:both}#preview p,#story p{z-index:0;font-size:18px;line-height:27px;margin:18px 0;font-family:Georgia,Serif;color:#333}#preview figcaption,#story figcaption{font-family:Arial,serif;font-size:12px;line-height:17px;color:#999;padding:5px 5px 20px 5px}#preview figcaption span.credits:before,#story figcaption span.credits:before{content:'(‘}#preview figcaption span.credits:after,#story figcaption span.credits:after{content:’)’}#story{word-break:break-word}#story #titleline,#story .trb_bylines_nm_pb{display:block;margin-top:3px;font:12px Arial,sans-serif;color:#999;text-decoration:none}#story #content-elements{word-break:break-word}#story #content-elements p,#story #content-elements h3,#story #content-elements ol,#story #content-elements ul{width:auto;z-index:0}#story #content-elements p{min-height:27px}#story #content-elements h3{font-family:Georgia,’Droid Serif’,Serif;font-weight:normal;font-size:27px;line-height:31px;margin-top:33px;clear:left}#story #content-elements h3+figure{margin-top:0}#story #content-elements h3+p{margin-top:8px}#story #content-elements blockquote .quote{font-family:”Belizio”,Georgia,”Droid Serif”,serif;padding:19px 0 7px;margin-bottom:5px;color:#000;font-size:28px;line-height:35px;display:block;word-wrap:break-word;text-align:center;clear:both}#story #content-elements blockquote .quote:before{margin-bottom:10px;font-size:52px;display:block;line-height:4px;content:’\\201C’}#story #content-elements blockquote .cite{font-family:’Arial’, sans-serif;font-style:normal;font-size:14px;margin:0px auto;color:#666;text-align:center;clear:both}#story #content-elements blockquote .cite:before{content:”— “}#story #content-elements figure{position:relative;z-index:1}#story #content-elements figure.full{width:100%;float:none;clear:both}#story #content-elements figure.medium{width:48%}#story #content-elements figure.small{width:30%}#story #content-elements figure img{width:100%;margin:0}#story #content-elements figure.medium.infobox{border:30px solid #eee;border-left-width:0;padding:25px;width:calc(50% – 80px)}#story #content-elements figure.medium.infobox hr{color:#ddd;border-bottom:none;margin:15px 0}#story #content-elements figure.medium.infobox h2{font-size:25px;font-family:Georgia;font-weight:200}#story #content-elements figure.medium.infobox a{color:#333;text-decoration:none}#story #content-elements figure.medium.infobox a:hover{color:#333}#story #content-elements figure.medium.infobox a.linkarrow{font-size:20px;float:right}#story #content-elements figure.medium.infobox p{font-size:13px;font-family:Arial;margin:0px 0px 10px}#story #content-elements figure.medium.infobox p.description,#story #content-elements figure.medium.infobox p.header{color:#aaa}#story #content-elements figure.medium.infobox p.info-head-text{color:#aaa;text-transform:uppercase;margin:0px}#story #content-elements figure.medium.infobox p.info-bold-text{font-weight:bold}#story #content-elements .responsive-embed{position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden}#story #content-elements .responsive-embed iframe,#story #content-elements .responsive-embed object,#story #content-elements .responsive-embed span,#story #content-elements .responsive-embed embed{position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%}#story #content-elements hr{border-style:solid;clear:both;margin:30px 0}#story #content-elements hr.none{border:0}#story #content-elements hr.thin{border-top:1px solid #333;border-bottom:none}#story #content-elements hr.thick{border-top:3px solid #333;border-bottom:none}#story #content-elements hr.space{padding-top:20px;border-style:none}#story #content-elements hr.fancy{background:url(/2017/11/27/inspired-by-origami-scientists-build-artificial-muscle-that-lifts-1000-times-its-own-weight/&) no-repeat scroll center center transparent;color:transparent;height:25px;margin:30px auto;width:auto;clear:both;border:0 none;display:block;padding:0px}#story #content-elements hr.diamondy{background:url(/2017/11/27/inspired-by-origami-scientists-build-artificial-muscle-that-lifts-1000-times-its-own-weight/&) no-repeat scroll center center transparent;color:transparent;height:25px;margin:30px auto;width:auto;clear:both;border:0 none;display:block;padding:0px}#story #content-elements .interstitial_link a{color:#4591B8;font-size:18px;font-weight:bold;line-height:27px}#story #content-elements div:first-child p:first-child{clear:both}#story #content-elements div:first-child p:first-child:first-letter{float:left;font-size:100px;line-height:0.95em;font-family:”Belizio”, Georgia, serif;margin-right:0.115em;color:#000;text-transform:uppercase;font-style:normal}#story #content-elements p:not(.byline) a{color:#4591B8}#story #content-elements p:not(.byline) a:hover{color:#77B3CC}#story #content-elements a{text-decoration:none}#story #content-elements header .trb_embed_related_credit_and_caption{margin-top:5px}#story #content-elements ul,#story #content-elements ol{overflow:hidden;padding-left:20px}#story #content-elements ul li,#story #content-elements ol li{font-family:Georgia, serif;margin-left:5px;font-size:16px;line-height:26px}#story #content-elements ul li{list-style-type:disc}#story #content-elements ul li:before{content:”}#story #content-elements ol li{list-style-type:decimal}#story #content-elements ul.related-links{margin-top:0}#story #content-elements .left{float:left;margin:12px 2% 12px 0px}#story #content-elements .right{float:right;margin:12px 0px 12px 2%}#story #content-elements .twitter{width:auto}#story #content-elements .EmbeddedTweet,#story #content-elements twitter-tweet,#story #content-elements .media-forward{max-width:500px !important;width:100% !important;margin:auto !important}#story #content-elements .instagram{width:100%}#story #content-elements .instagram-media{margin:auto !important}#story #content-elements .storify{width:100%}#story #content-elements .soundcloud{width:100%}#story #content-elements .vidme{width:100%}#story #content-elements .scribble{width:100%}#story #content-elements .facebook{width:320px;float:left;margin:12px 15px 12px 0px}#story #content-elements .fb-post.fb_iframe_widget{display:block !important;padding:0px}#story #content-elements .fb-post.fb_iframe_widget>span{display:block !important;margin:0 auto}#story #content-elements .trb_allContentWrapper[data-content-type=htmlstory] .trb_mainContent_copyright{display:block;font-family:Arial,Sans-serif !important;color:#999;font-size:12px !important;clear:left;margin-bottom:30px}body .trb_mainContent ul li:before{content:”}body .trb_mainContent ol li:before{font-family:”Belizio”,Georgia,serif;font-size:14px;margin:0 5px 0 0;left:0}@media (max-width: 767px){.heroic figcaption{display:none}#story #content-elements .right,#story #content-elements .left{float:none;margin:0 auto;width:100%}#story #content-elements figure.small,#story #content-elements figure.medium{width:100%}#story #content-elements hr{margin:20px 0}}
/*# sourceMappingURL=latimes_story.min.css.map */
.pb-f-article-body #story .heroic {
display: none;
}
.pb-f-article-body #story div p, .pb-f-article-body #story div h3 {
max-width: 650px;
margin: 18px auto;
}
svg{width: 100%;}
@font-face {
font-family: ‘Benton Gothic Bold’;
src: url(/2017/11/27/inspired-by-origami-scientists-build-artificial-muscle-that-lifts-1000-times-its-own-weight/&);
src: url(/2017/11/27/inspired-by-origami-scientists-build-artificial-muscle-that-lifts-1000-times-its-own-weight/&) format(’embedded-opentype’),
url(‘https://s3.amazonaws.com/latimes-datadesk-template/fonts/0.5.0/benton-gothic-bold.woff’) format(‘woff’),
url(‘https://s3.amazonaws.com/latimes-datadesk-template/fonts/0.5.0/benton-gothic-bold.ttf’) format(‘truetype’);
font-weight:normal;
font-style:normal;
}
@font-face {
font-family: ‘Belizio Narrow SemiBold’;
src: url(/2017/11/27/inspired-by-origami-scientists-build-artificial-muscle-that-lifts-1000-times-its-own-weight/&);
src: url(/2017/11/27/inspired-by-origami-scientists-build-artificial-muscle-that-lifts-1000-times-its-own-weight/&) format(’embedded-opentype’),
url(‘https://s3.amazonaws.com/latimes-datadesk-template/fonts/0.3.1/belizio-narrow-semibold.woff’) format(‘woff’),
url(‘https://s3.amazonaws.com/latimes-datadesk-template/fonts/0.3.1/belizio-narrow-semibold.ttf’) format(‘truetype’);
font-weight:normal;
font-style:normal;
}
@font-face {
font-family: ‘Benton Gothic Regular’;
src: url(/2017/11/27/inspired-by-origami-scientists-build-artificial-muscle-that-lifts-1000-times-its-own-weight/&);
src: url(/2017/11/27/inspired-by-origami-scientists-build-artificial-muscle-that-lifts-1000-times-its-own-weight/&) format(’embedded-opentype’),
url(‘https://s3.amazonaws.com/latimes-datadesk-template/fonts/0.5.0/benton-gothic-regular.woff’) format(‘woff’),
url(‘https://s3.amazonaws.com/latimes-datadesk-template/fonts/0.5.0/benton-gothic-regular.ttf’) format(‘truetype’);
font-weight:normal;
font-style:normal;
}
#story p.dropcap:first-letter {
float: left;
font-size: 100px;
line-height: 0.95em;
font-family: Georgia, serif;
margin-right: 0.115em;
color: #000;
text-transform: uppercase;
font-style: normal;
}
#story p, #story h2, #story h3, #story ul, #story ol {
width: 100%;
margin: 40px auto 25px auto;
max-width: 650px;
}
#story p {
width: 100%;
margin: 8px auto 25px auto;
max-width: 650px;
}
#story .special-promo h3 {
margin-top: 15px;
line-height: 22px;
}
#story .special-promo h3 a {
font-family: ‘Benton Gothic Bold’;
color: #333;
font-size: 20px;
}
.special-promo p#promo {
font-family: ‘Benton Gothic Regular’;
}
.special-promo {
display: block;
padding: .25em 1em 1em 1em;
margin: auto;
max-width: 650px;
background: #f4f4f4;
margin-bottom: 25px;
margin-top: 30px;
}
#story #content-elements figure.heroic > *:first-child{
width: 100%;
margin: 10px auto;
max-width: 1000px;
display: block;
float: none;
left: 0;
}
#story p.dateline {
font-family: ‘Benton Gothic Regular’, Arial,sans-serif;
font-size: 11px;
line-height: 13px;
text-transform: uppercase;
color: #333;
}
#story p.byline{
margin: 10px auto!important;
}
#story p.dateline{
margin: 10px auto;
}
#story p.note{
font-family: ‘Benton Gothic Regular’, Arial, sans-serif;
font-style: italic;
font-size: 14px;
}
#story p.date-title, #preview p.date-title{
margin: 60px auto -20px auto;
font-family: ‘Benton Gothic Regular’, Arial, sans-serif;
text-transform: uppercase;
font-size: 17px;
}
#story p.credit, #story p.source{
font-family: ‘Benton Gothic Regular’, Arial, sans-serif;
font-size: 12px;
line-height: 1.2;
margin: 10px 0;
}
.medium-banner{
max-width: 650px;
display: block;
width: 100%;
margin: 20px auto 30px auto;
}
.large-banner{
width: 100%;
max-width: 1000px;
display: block;
margin: 20px auto 10px auto;
}
.mini-banner{
width: 80px;
display: block;
margin: 20px auto 30px auto;
}
.centered{
text-align: center;
}
h2.section-title{
margin-top: 18px;
font-size: 32px;
text-align: center;
}
#story #content-elements h2.benton-title, #story #content-elements h3, #story #content-elements p.benton-title{
font-family: ‘Benton Gothic Bold’, Arial, sans-serif;
font-weight: normal;
}
#story #content-elements h3.timeline-title{
margin: 15px auto 20px auto!important;
}
#story h2.belizio-title{
font-family: ‘Belizio Narrow SemiBold’;
}
#story p.benton-text{
font-family: ‘Benton Gothic Regular’, Arial, sans-serif;
font-weight: normal;
}
#preview h2.benton-title, #preview h3.benton-title, #preview p.benton-title{
font-family: ‘Benton Gothic Bold’, Arial, sans-serif;
font-weight: normal;
}
#preview h2.belizio-title, #preview h3.belizio-title, #preview p.belizio-title{
font-family: ‘Belizio Narrow SemiBold’;
font-weight: normal;
}
.item-holder{
margin: 0px auto 50px auto;
width: 100%;
float: none;
display: block;
overflow: hidden;
}
.small-item{
max-width: 480px;
}
.medium-item{
max-width: 720px;
}
.large-item{
max-width: 1000px;
}
.desktop{
display: block;
}
.mobile{
display: none;
}
h2.numbered-title{
text-align: left;
}
.text-holder{
clear: both;
overflow: hidden;
margin: 60px auto 30px auto;
}
#story #content-elements ul.benton-list li {
/*overflow: hidden;*/
padding-left: 0px;
font-family: ‘Benton Gothic Regular’, Arial, sans-serif;
margin-bottom: 10px;
}
.introtext{
text-align: center;
}
.list {
width: 95%;
overflow: hidden;
max-width: 720px;
margin: 10px auto;
}
.left-panel {
border-right: #d1d3d4 solid 1px;
float: left;
padding-right: 23px;
}
.hide-border {
border: 0;
}
.small {
width: calc(50% – 23px);
margin-left: auto;
margin-right: auto;
margin-bottom: 30px;
}
.right-panel {
float: right;
padding-left: 23px;
border-left: #d1d3d4 solid 1px;
margin-left: -2px;
}
.double-list-header{
font-family: “Benton Gothic Bold”, Arial, sans-serif;
margin-bottom: 15px;
font-size: 18px;
max-width: 650px;
margin-left: auto;
margin-right: auto;
}
body #story #content-elements figure.full {
width: 100%;
float: none;
clear: both;
max-width: 720px;
margin: 10px auto;
}
@media (max-width: 767px){
.small {
margin-top: 30px;
}
.desktop{
display: none;
}
.mobile{
display: block;
}
h2.section-title {
font-size: 22px;
}
}
@media (max-width: 650px){
.right-panel, .left-panel {
border: 0px;
padding-right: 0px;
padding-left: 0px;
margin-bottom: 0px;
}
.small {
width: 100%;
margin-top: 0px;
}
}
.trb_homeLink {
display: none!important;
}
.trb_article_breadcrumbs, .trb_article_breadcrumbs_a {
font: 13px/16px Arial,sans-serif;
font-weight: normal;
text-align: right;
}
.trb_article_relatedTopics {
display: none;
}
@media (max-width: 839px){
.trb_article_breadcrumbs, .trb_article_breadcrumbs_a {
text-align: left;
border-bottom: none;
}
}
More Top Picks Best Docking Stations For Laptops
Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University have developed a variety of origami-inspired artificial muscles that can lift up to a thousand times their own weight — and yet be dexterous enough to grip and raise a delicate flower.
The devices, described in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, offer a new way to give soft robots super-strength, which could be used everywhere from inside our bodies to outer space.
Historically, robots have been made of metal and other hard materials because it gives them strength. But robots also need to be made out of soft, pliant parts to deal with hard-to-reach places, navigate unpredictable environments and safely interact with people. (Consider, for example, the dangers of shaking hands with a robot with a steely grip.)
So scientists have increasingly tried to make robots with soft parts. In earlier times, those bits were relegated to a hard robot’s outsides, essentially as padding. But researchers are increasingly building robots whose other crucial parts are soft — recently going so far as to create an octopus-inspired robot.
“We’ve been interested in soft robots for a long time because they’re safe, because they are compliant and because they can deal with uncertainty,” said roboticist Daniela Rus, director of MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and one of the study’s senior authors. “They’re very robust and easy to control, relatively speaking.”
But there’s been one big drawback to soft-bodied bots: Unlike robots made out of hard materials, they’re not exactly power-lifters.
“What we want are soft, safe, compliant robots that have strength, that have the properties that are now achievable with hard-bodied systems,” Rus said. “This way we have the best of both worlds.”
Rus and her colleagues solved this problem by drawing upon origami techniques, which have recently proved useful for making many kinds of robots. (One such bot, RoboBee, was pioneered by fellow senior author Robert Wood of Harvard.) Origami techniques have the potential to produce many complex designs at low cost because they use small amounts of material and surprisingly simple processes.
For this work, the scientists used origami techniques to create muscle-like structures that could give a limb flexibility but still allow it to move without needing any hard parts.
They designed folded structures specifically meant to shorten, curl, twist or bend into specific shapes when they were compressed. The researchers sealed those long folded structures in a bag of polymer “skin” and filled them with air or another fluid. When a vacuum sucked the fluid out, the origami structure squeezed together, contorting into the shape determined by its folding patterns.
The researchers found that some origami muscles could squeeze down to a tenth of their original size, or lift up to a thousand times their own weight. They could produce roughly six times as much force per unit of area as mammalian muscle.
Each fold pattern can only move in one way, but Rus said many different patterns could be linked together for a multifunctional robot, like an origami Swiss Army knife.
Such robotic limbs could be used at tiny scales, perhaps to do repair work inside of our bodies. They could be useful at large scales, for building in outer space. They could enable wearable exoskeletons for lifting heavy objects, or be sent to probe deep-sea environments. They could even do the most deceptively mundane tasks — such as lifting a heavy carton of milk or a bunch of grapes without squashing them.
A more human-scale proof of concept could be next on the to-build list, the scientist said.
“I want to make an elephant,” Rus said with a laugh. “Or maybe a baby elephant.”
<!–
#smallsvg .st0{fill:#C9E1F0;}
#smallsvg .st1{font-family:’Benton Gothic Regular’;}
#smallsvg .st2{font-size:44.5704px;}
Small-sized svg
–>
<!––>
<!–
#medium-svg .st0{fill:#C9E1F0;}
#medium-svg .st1{font-family:’Benton Gothic Regular’;}
#medium-svg .st2{font-size:52px;}
Medium-sized svg
–>
<!––>
<!–
#large-svg .st0{fill:#C9E1F0;}
#large-svg .st1{font-family:’Benton Gothic Regular’;}
#large-svg .st2{font-size:92.9812px;}
Large-sized svg
–>
<!––>
Follow @aminawrite on Twitter for more science news and "like" Los Angeles Times Science & Health More Top Picks Best Amazon Prime Big Deal Days Nintendo Switch 2 Deals 2026 Sale
MORE IN SCIENCE
Artificial lights are eating away at dark nights — and that's not a good thing
/* Render tweets */
var render_tweets = function () {
window.twttr.ready(function(twttr) {
$(‘*[data-tweet-id]’).each(function() {
var formID = $(this).closest(‘figure’)[0];
var _tweet = $(this);
var options = {
conversation: ‘none’,
cards: ‘hidden’
};
if( $(this).hasClass(‘conversation’) ) {
options[‘conversation’] = ‘all’;
}
if( $(this).hasClass(‘card’) ) {
options[‘cards’] = ‘visible’;
}
var tweet_id = $(this).data(‘tweet-id’);
$(this).text(“”);
if (tweet_id){
twttr.widgets.createTweet( tweet_id, formID, {
conversation: options[‘conversation’],
cards: options[‘cards’],
align: ‘center’
}).then(function(el) {
$(‘iframe’).height($(‘iframe’).contents(‘body’).outerHeight());
});
};
});
});
};
render_tweets();
/* Render instagram */
$( ‘.raw-insta’ ).each(function( index ){
var rawInsta = $( this ).text();
var $thisFigure = $( this );
$.ajax({
dataType: “jsonp”,
url: “https://api.instagram.com/oembed/?url=http://instagr.am/p/” + rawInsta
}).done(function(data){
$thisFigure.html( data.html );
}).success(function(data){
window.instgrm.Embeds.process();
});
$( this ).removeClass( ‘raw-insta’ ).text(“”);
});
/* Render brightcove */
$( ‘.raw-brightcove’ ).each(function( index ){
var rawBright = $( this ).text().trim();
var $thisFigure = $( this );
$( this ).removeClass( ‘raw-brightcove’ ).text(“”);
$thisFigure.html(““);
});
brightcove.createExperiences();
/* Render Facebook */
$(‘div.fb-post’).each(function() {
$(this).html(”);
$(this).removeAttr(‘fb-xfbml-state’);
$(this).removeAttr(‘fb-iframe-plugin-query’);
$(this).attr(‘data-width’, $(this).parent().width()-10);
});
/* Make Facebook Responsive */
$( window ).resize(function() {
if($(‘div.fb-post’).length != 0) {
$(‘div.fb-post’).each(function() {
$(this).html(”);
$(this).removeAttr(‘fb-xfbml-state’);
$(this).removeAttr(‘fb-iframe-plugin-query’);
$(this).attr(‘data-width’, $(this).parent().width()-10);
});
if (typeof FB !== ‘undefined’){
FB.XFBML.parse();
}
}
});
/* Remove all elements */
.pb-f-article-body #story .heroic {
display: none;
}
.pb-f-article-body #story div p, .pb-f-article-body #story div h2, .pb-f-article-body #story div h3, .pb-f-article-body #story div ul, .pb-f-article-body #story div ol {
max-width: 792px;
margin: 18px auto;
}
.pb-f-article-body #story div h2, .pb-f-article-body #story div h3 {
margin: 40px auto 25px auto;
}
.pb-f-article-body #story .benton-title, .pb-f-article-body #story h2.question, .pb-f-article-body #story h3.question {
font-family: ‘Benton Gothic Bold’;
line-height: inherit;
}
.pb-f-article-body #story .date-title {
font-family: ‘Benton Gothic Regular’;
margin: 60px auto -20px auto;
text-transform: uppercase;
font-size: 17px;
}