Fireflies that light up dusky backyards on warm summer evenings use their luminescence for communication — to attract a mate, ward off predators, or lure prey.
These glimmering bugs also sparked the inspiration of scientists at MIT. Taking a cue from nature, they built electroluminescent soft artificial muscles for flying, insect-scale robots. The tiny artificial muscles that control the robots’ wings emit colored light during flight.
Image: Inspired by fireflies, MIT researchers have created soft actuators that can emit light in different colors or patterns. CREDIT: Image courtesy of Kevin Chen, Suhan Kim,et al
