Origami Science You will be surprised to know that paper folding ideas are used in technically advanced science projects. Some projects use bona fide origami folding techniques in the their work. However, in some cases, the term "origami" is used even when there is minimal folding involved. Origami-Inspired Deployable Solar Array As we approach 2014, we revisit the 50-year-old space problem of transporting large-objects in narrow-rockets. Here comes origami to the rescue. Researchers at Brigham Young University, National Science Foundation, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and origami expert Robert Lang designed a space array which can be folded compactly and then deployed while in outer space. When opened, the proposed disk-like array is 25 meters in diameter (82 feet) but when folded origami-style, it is only 2.7 meter (8.8 feet). Large-array-in- narrow-rocket problem solved! Not so fast. It takes a lot of time and money to make a 25 meter solar array so the project is currently in the form of a 20th scale prototype. Read article or see video . This solar array is similar to the origami Flasher by Jeremy Shafer but it's not the first time that origami has been used in space technology. In 2002, Robert Lang designed "Eyeglass", a foldable space telescope; a full-scale model has not been made or launched (read more). Back in 1995, Japanese scientists designed a "Miura-ori" solar array which was successfully launched and deployed (read more). Foldable Paper Lithium-Ion Battery Researchers from Arizona State University constructed a paper-based lithium-ion battery which can be folded Miuri-Ori style (the famous Mori-ori map fold). Not only is this space efficient, the folding of the flat sheet into a compact bundle generated a 14-fold increase in areal energy density ("areal" means increase in energy based on its area). 1 Easy to read article here or abstract ACS Publications . Published in Nano Lett., 2013, 13 (10) Nanopaper Antenna electronic origami-paper April 2013: Japanese researchers Nogi, Komoda, Otsuka & Suganuma were able to create a nanopaper antenna which was sensitive over a wide rage of frequencies and it was flexible enough to fold into a paper crane. Antennas are needed in all electronic devices which receive & send information. People have been able to make flexible Photo: paper cranes made with silver-imprinted antennas using plastics (pretty good) and paper (not so good). nanopaper. The LEDs light- Nogi et al perfected the paper antenna by using fibrillated up indicating that the paper cranes can conduct electricity. Note the alligator-clip cellulose nanofibers to make a smooth-surface paper. Next, pinching the crane on the right. silver nanowires were printed on the super-smooth paper to make a highly foldable nanopaper antenna. How is this going to help us in the future? Well, foldable antennas can lead to flexible electronic gadgets - these would be smaller, less stiff, and less plastic-y. Imagine communication devices embedded right on your shirt sleeve or on your neck tie. Alternatively, the properties of the gadget may change depending on how you fold the antenna: fold it one way and it'll take your temperature, fold it the other way and it'll take your blood pressure. The possibilities are endless. Read abstract from Nanoscale . Waza Developers Conference includes Origami Workshop February 2013: Heroku , an app platform, hosted the Waza 2013 conference where developers attended lectures on computer programming techniques. What is different is that the conference included sessions on origami, printmaking, bookbinding and quilting. Oren Teich (COO), says, "We're trying to make developers" lives better" by broadening their horizons. Adam Wiggins (co-founder) feels that software development is as much a craft as it is a science. "Waza" in Japanese means "art" or "technique". Photos by danaoshiro . Cell Origami In origami, you use your fingers to fold a piece of paper into a 2 3D shape such as a bird or a box. In Cell Origami you don't need fingers, you just need the cells themselves. December 2012: Researchers Kuribayashi-Shigetomi et al. from the University of Tokyo placed living cells on microplates. When the adhered cells are induced to contract, they cause the microplates to fold into cubes, dodecahedra, and spiral tubes. They call this technology "Cell Origami". Actomyosin interactions and actin polymerization allow the cells to self-fold and produce micro structures without the use of hinges or special materials. Read article or watch video . In terms of science, this development may lead to medical devices which can be activated to fold while inside a body. In terms of origami, the process is not that different than collapsing a crease pattern into the finished origami model as shown with Fujimoto's Cube . Cosmic Origami In October, 2012, Johns Hopkins University scientists, Mark Neyrinck and Miguel Aragón-Calvo, were awarded the “New Frontiers” Award for work on “Origami Universe”. Photo: origami tessellations showing a single galaxy (left) The researchers compared origami tessellations to the or six galaxies (right). formation of cosmic structures from dark matter. Dark-matter Pattern is essentially the Tiled is described as a "flat sheet" and the force of gravity "folds" Hexagons by origami artist, the dark matter in a way similar to paper folding in origami. Eric Gjerde. The folds in dark-matter tessellate into stream regions which can be conceptualized through origami tessellations. See abstractshere and here . Mosely Snowflake Sponge Business Card Origami Fractal September, 2012: Most people know fractals as swirly computer-generated images. With origami, engineer Jeannine Mosely and organizers of the Institute For Figuring create the Mosely Snowflake Sponge. It was made with 49,000 business cards and it represents a 3D fractal. This was a 7-month long, campus-wide project based in the University of Southern California. 3 Level-3 Mosely Snowflake Sponge - is composed of 18 Level-2 units; - each level-2 unit is composed of 18 level-1 units; - each level-1 unit is composed of 18 cubes; - each cube is made with 6 business cards. Connector cards are needed to keep the cubes together without glue or tape. Photo: Level-3 Mosely Snowflake Sponge: a physical grand total = 49,000 business cards. representation of a fractal. Try it yourself! Hydro-Fold ink/water imprinted crease patterns cause self-folding. In 2010, researchers developed a method where a sheet of composite material can self-fold when an electrical current is passed through it (more). In 2011, this process was made easier when researchers were able to get a polymer sheets to shelf-fold when exposed to light (more). In 2012, it gets even easier! Self folding origami is made possible with a mix of water & ink printed on paper. April, 2012: Industrial Design student, Christophe Guberan, from Ecole Cantonale d’art de Lausanne can make a sheet of paper self-fold when water/ink is printed on the paper. The process is as simple as 1-2-3: 1) design the crease pattern on a computer, 2) print the pattern on a sheet of tracing paper, 3) watch the paper fold itself along the crease lines. The printer is fitted with a special mix of water and ink. As the water/ink mixture dries, it causes the paper to buckle and fold along the printed crease lines thereby transforming a 2D sheet of paper sheet into a 3D structure with volume. I cannot imagine it getting any easier than this! Origami DNA Nanorobot In 2006, Caltech researcher Paul Rothemund created Origami DNA: you may remember the images of smiley faces, stars, and other flat objects made with interlinking strands of DNA. Fast forward 6 years (Feb, 2012) and these smiley faces have a real-life 4 application. Wyss Institute (Harvard) researcher Shawn Douglas and colleagues have been able to use Origami DNA to create 3D shapes such as cubes and boxes. More importantly, Douglas was able to use Origami DNA techniques to create a clam-like cage which could carry and deliver drugs to specific target cells. The clam-like cage (nanorobots) had "locks" which unzip when a target cell is found, thereby releasing drugs locally. Results are promising: when loaded with chemicals which kill cancer cells, the Origami DNA nanobots delivered drugs so that half of the leukemia cells were destroyed whereas none of the normal cells were harmed. read abstract here read story here go to Shawn Douglas' cool web site image from NewScientist So... where's the "origami" here? Sorry, not much real origami here except for the term "Origami DNA". However, you can fold a piece of paper to look like double helix DNA here (T Yenn) or here . Pop-Up Fabrication of Harvard Monolithic Bee This invention is more under the category of fabrication and manufacturing; however, some of the techniques are borrowed from pop-up books and origami folding. Harvard researchers Sreetharan et al. have developed a way to mass-produce small robots quickly. The Monolithic Bee is a 2.4 mm tall and is made in a one-step-pop-up move requiring less than one second. Not really origami - but definitely origami-inspired. Read morehttp://www.wired.com . The Origami Snowball under Inspection Jan, 2012: The origami snowball (also known as a scrunched-up piece of paper) is the focus of the January 5th, 2012 New Scientist article. Researchers Narayanan Menon and Anne Dominique Cambou from the University of Massachusetts analyzed the physics of a crumpled piece of paper. The office paper-ball is familiar to us all, but did you know that no matter how you squeeze the structure, it will remain predominantly (90%) air? Those in shipping and receiving will agree that scrunched up papers are great as packing material.