This micro-robot mimics the ingenious grasp of a Venus flytrap

From Charles Darwin, who once called it “one of the most wonderful plants in the world,” to the man-eating Audrey II of "Little Shop of Horrors", the Venus flytrap has inspired artists and scientists for more than a century. Into that canon enters a new soft gripping robot, which as described in a study released today in the journal Nature Communications, uses the flytrap as its design inspiration for sensing and picking up objects.