They then created an origami cube out of the metal-coated paper, which required the edges to adhere to each other without any other binding agent.

Ghostkubes are origami-inspired, shape-shifting building blocks. Connected by hinges, these cubes can be manipulated in a variety of ways.

The authors say that the design of microbot origami mimics nature. "The cube sequence programs the shapes of the folding microbots. Proteins work in the same way," Shields said.

Sequence-encoded colloidal origami and microbot assemblies from patchy magnetic cubes. Science Advances, 2017; 3 (8): e1701108 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1701108 ...

First the scientists create flat patterns, origami, of exactly the fold up shapes familiar to kindergarten children making paper pyramids, cubes or other solids, except that these are as small as ...

The researchers refer to the polymer cubes as “microbot origami,” tiny, modular objects that can be reconfigured into countless shapes.