Language

         

 Advertising byAdpathway

Entangled blackworm ‘blob’ that moves as one inspires robotic platform

2 months ago 3

PROTECT YOUR DNA WITH QUANTUM TECHNOLOGY

Orgo-Life the new way to the future

  Advertising by Adpathway

Open-access content Tanya Weaver

Wed 16 Jul 2025

A robotic platform inspired by California blackworms, known for tangling together into a moving blob, has been built by researchers at Harvard University. 

When California blackworms are exposed to dry conditions or other environmental stressors they will clump together to form an entangled blob. Doing so helps conserve moisture and regulate temperature.

Just as quickly as they entangle, they can also disentangle when they sense danger, such as the approach of a predator.

A research team led by Harvard John A Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) used this blackworm behaviour as the inspiration for the design of a robotic platform that similarly features robotic worms that join together to accomplish tasks, such as crossing gaps or climbing walls. 

“We look at the biological system and we say, ‘Look how cool this is,’” said Justin Werfel, senior research fellow who heads the Designing Emergence Laboratory at SEAS. 

The soft, thin, worm-like threads are made from synthetic polymer materials that can quickly entangle and disentangle.

Eliza Grinnell - Harvard SEAS

Each foot-long robot worm is powered by an internal air chamber that when pressurised makes the robot curl up. When multiple robots curl up around each other, they become a blob much like their real-life counterparts.

The mass of entangled bots can then move around as a cohesive unit, operating on both land and in water.

According to the researchers, the project’s long-term goal is to study the dynamics of group behaviours that emerge from physical entanglement. This could then be used to create artificial systems that could, for example, explore large spaces, cross gaps, move objects and climb up buildings.

Werfel said: “Is the physical entanglement not just the means of cohesion, but also a channel for communication and coordination? Here’s a platform that we can use to study those kinds of things.”

The team also hopes to develop an untethered version that uses microfluidics to guide its actions. Eventually, blobs of many independent robots will move through natural environments with full autonomy.

You may also be interested in...

UK Biobank has completed its goal of collecting the brain, body and bone scans of 100,000 volunteers.

Open-access content

A breakthrough technology preserving livers and kidneys outside the body has won the Royal Academy of Engineering’s 2025 MacRobert Award.

Open-access content

3D-printed human islets could lead to a more effective and less invasive treatment for type 1 diabetes.

Open-access content

A trial of a hybrid vertical growing system in Dyson Farming’s 26-acre strawberry glasshouse on its Lincolnshire farm has massively boosted yields.

Open-access content

Robots will be used to remotely and autonomously sort and segregate radioactive waste at the defunct nuclear sites.

Open-access content

First fully robotic heart transplant in the US performed without opening chest

Open-access content

Kingston University engineering students turn to beeswax to power their rocket engine design.

Open-access content

Air pollutants on UK pavements generated by diesel cars could be slashed by a third if car exhausts were positioned on the right, according to new research.

Open-access content

More from Biology

Researchers in China have developed contact lenses that overcome the limitations of human vision to open a ‘brand-new window onto the world’.

Open-access content

Scientists at the University of Bristol are developing a new robotic suction cup inspired by octopus suckers that can grasp rough, curved and heavy stone.

Open-access content

Researchers have evaluated 10 ‘space dishes’ on their suitability for multiyear space travel, and identified what might be the best of the bunch – a salad with ingredients that can be grown in space.

Open-access content

The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended the use of a second malaria vaccine developed with the help of UK scientists.

Open-access content

More from Robotics

Robotic technology could build infrastructure in space, paving the way for space-based data centres, solar farms and other megastructures, a project from the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and Space Solar has shown.

Open-access content

Amazon has introduced its first robot with a sense of touch that it says heralds a ‘fundamental leap forward in robotics’.

Open-access content

Morrisons has begun trialling robots in select stores that roam the aisles to monitor how products are being displayed on shelves.

Open-access content

Robot vacuum cleaners could be reprogrammed to perform helpful tasks around the house such as playing with a pet, watering the plants and carrying groceries to the kitchen.

Open-access content

More from Robots

In a trial by the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MOD), advanced robotic systems – including robot dogs – have successfully demonstrated their capability to detect and defuse bomb threats.

Open-access content

A crucial operation to remove a small amount of radioactive debris from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant is underway by plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco).

Open-access content

The Antarctic ice sheets are melting – but at what rate? IceNode, developed by Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, is on a mission to find out.

Open-access content

Engineers have developed microscopic robots that swim through the lungs to deliver cancer-fighting medication to metastatic tumours.

Open-access content

More from University

A large shaking table that mimics earthquake events has allowed researchers at the University of Bristol to evaluate the structural integrity of 3D-printed concrete structures.

Open-access content

The extent of AI cheating at universities is significant and increasingly going undetected, a survey by The Guardian has found.

Open-access content

A carbon capture method that converts carbon dioxide into metal oxalates – a precursor for cement production – has been developed by a team of researchers.

Open-access content

Eastern and south-eastern coasts of Africa have currents that put them among the world’s top potential locations for ocean energy production, according to a study by Florida Atlantic University.

Open-access content

More from USA

Former President Joe Biden’s CHIPS and Science Act already had flaws, but now his successor’s administration’s approach is complicating matters further.

Open-access content

A new autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) has completed its first field test in ultra-deep waters near the Mariana Trench, collecting data on previously unexplored polymetallic nodules.

Open-access content

The first uncrewed aircraft traffic management system designed specifically to prevent mid-air collisions between drones has received Federal Aviation Administration approval and is now operational.

Open-access content

Researchers have used advanced deep-sea imaging technology to provide detailed, high-definition images and video of a First World War submarine lying off the coast of California.

Open-access content

More from News

Former President Joe Biden’s CHIPS and Science Act already had flaws, but now his successor’s administration’s approach is complicating matters further.

Open-access content

Since 2002, all of Earth’s continents have experienced “unprecedented freshwater loss” driven by climate change, unsustainable groundwater use and extreme droughts, new satellite observations have revealed.

Open-access content

Great British Railways is a “solution looking for a problem” and could see the UK repeating mistakes made under British Rail.

Open-access content

Researchers at Meta are developing a wristband capable of controlling devices using subtle hand or finger gestures.

Open-access content

More from Tanya Weaver

Researchers at Meta are developing a wristband capable of controlling devices using subtle hand or finger gestures.

Open-access content

The fusion industry raised $2.64bn in private and public funding in the past 12 months – a 178% rise from the previous year – according to a report by the Fusion Industry Association.

Open-access content

The new MachLab rocket-testing facility has opened in Scotland, aiming to support the research and development of new rocket engines capable of delivering up to one tonne of thrust.

Open-access content

Construction of the 1.4GW NeuConnect UK-Germany power link has entered its next phase with a cable-laying vessel entering UK waters to put down 140km of subsea cabling.

Open-access content

Read Entire Article

         

        

HOW TO FIGHT BACK WITH THE 5G  

Protect your whole family with Quantum Orgo-Life® devices

  Advertising by Adpathway