Automatic origami: "programmable matter" can fold itself

"Watch your backs, professional origamists: researchers are working on a sheet of material that can fold itself. The sheets of material, called "programmable matter" by their inventors, use electric pulses to stimulate themselves into various folded shapes.

So far, one sheet can fold itself into a little boat or an airplane, but the creators envision wide-ranging applications for their programmable matter, from shelving to measuring utensils to a modern Swiss Army knife.

The programmable...