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Clickbait Scientific American Article Claims Paper=Transformers


Hasbro - Click to Enlarge

Hasbro – Click to Enlarge

This is a Transformer.

Credit: Smial

Credit: Smial

This is also a transformer.

Transformers_2_Devastator_3.jpgThis is…I guess it’s also a Transformer. Might be a bunch of shrapnel.

Credit: Xocolatl

Credit: Xocolatl

This is NOT a Transformer. Can you spot the difference? Scientific American may not be able to, as I discovered this morning, well before I finished my daily gallon of coffee. Take it away, liars.

“We thought it would be more interesting to make an origami device that not only folds itself but also moves on its own,” Wang says. To do this, the team developed a graphene oxide “paper” that controllably folds, allowing the team to make devices that can bend, grab, or walk (Sci. Adv. 2015, DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1500533).

I’m sure this has a ton of practical, innovative applications, but it’s not a goddamn Robot In Disguise. Talk to me when your self-perpetuating craft show can pee on John Turturro, or be my first crush.