Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Tiny robots inspired by insects could soon glide across water, scouting flooded areas, monitoring pollutants, or collecting ...

Kaushik Jayaram envisions a day when swarms of tiny robots, some weighing no more than a paperclip, will crawl through airplanes or into buildings after an earthquake—searching for survivors or ...

Just like bees, the individual robots in this simulation have no master plan. Simply by responding to local cues, they are able to construct honeycomb-like structures. The method could presage a new ...

(Nanowerk Spotlight) Building robots that can effortlessly mimic the movements of insects on water has been a persistent challenge in robotics. The ability to move autonomously and efficiently in ...

An orange wheel rolls across concrete and suddenly jumps, as if it decided to defy gravity on its own. Nearby, a robot undulates through water like a fish. Another twists forward inside a narrow pipe.

Rapid declines in insect populations are leading to concerns that the pollination of important crops could soon come under threat. Tiny flying robots designed by MIT researchers could one day provide ...