This is a tiny, self-propelling wooden robot made of one single material, and it may just transform the face of the planet, literally.
Place it on the ground, and it will slowly start to bury itself.
Attach a seed to it, and it could be used to replant forests all over the world.
It's a groundbreaking, ingenious design that may also play a huge role in energy harvesting, soft robotics, and sustainable buildings.
But what exactly is it?
Its development was initially inspired by hygromorphs, structures that change shape in response to humidity, like pine cones, whose scales automatically close when they get wet.
Plants often use these kinds of structures to change and modify themselves in response to the environment.
In fact, there's something super similar to this wooden robot already found in nature, the erodium plant.
It produces fruit and seeds with a hygromorphic, tail-like structure that helps propel it into the ground to germinate.
As the moisture in the environment changes, it coils and uncoils in an attempt to drill the seed further.
