Ah, clean as a… worm?!
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
You heard that right. Worms clean up after themselves by wriggling. So can technology match that?
Enter Rosa Sinaasappel [roh-SAH sih-NAAS-ah-pehl] and team at Georgia Tech.
They studied the behavior and flexibility of aquatic worms. To mimic their movements, they built a computer model using worm capture videos. Then, they created a robot worm using rubber links.
By bending itself, the robot can sweep particles like a broom. It can even cluster them up into neat piles without programming.
Potentially, multiple robots could clean whole environments. This could pave the way towards sweeping up microplastics.
In the meantime, let’s all do ‘the worm!’
Reference: Sinaasappel, R., Prathyusha, K. R., & Tuazon, H. (2025). Particle sweeping and collection by active and living filaments. Physical Review X. https://doi.org/10.1103/yxp1-t43g