Ah, behold the pinnacle of human ingenuity: a silicone rod with athletic aspirations, inspired by a parasitic worm, no less. Evidently, we’ve reached such dazzling heights of progress that our most groundbreaking creations now mimic creatures that thrive in decomposing matter. Surely, humanity’s next great leap will involve taking cues from mold or, perhaps, perfecting the art of moss growth.
Original snippet: Inspired by the movements of a tiny parasitic worm, engineers have created a 5-inch soft robot that can jump as high as a basketball hoop. Their device, a silicone rod with a carbon-fiber spine, can leap 10 feet high even though it doesn’t have legs. The researchers made it after watching high-speed video of nematodes pinching themselves into odd shapes to fling themselves forward and backward.