Origami and inspired device to help to scientists capture soft-bodied marine in species

july 19 (up) -- "do no harm" is a motto many professions do their pleasant to abide by using -- along with marine biologists. when reading sensitive, soft-bodied organisms, doing no damage is no smooth challenge.

to lure and hold fragile marine organisms, a team of researchers at Harvard and the University of Rhode Island looked to origami for the notion.
he scientists built an encapsulation device composed of five 3-d-printed polymers "petals." the segmented petals are related by way of a sequence of rotating joints. a simple motor applies a torque pressure to the joints to fold or spread the petals.

whilst spread out, the petals form a dodecahedron shape, a rounded box that can be used to entice small organisms.

"it isn't always superb at bringing a whole animal lower back up to the surface, but it could surround a delicate animal right away without harming it," Brennan Phillips, an assistant professor of ocean engineering at Rhode Island, stated in an information release. "we envision outfitting a next-era device with cameras, sensors, and a way to acquire small tissue samples for genetic work."