Flying robot rides the wind like a bird

Embodied intelligence makes robot energy-efficient and easy to steer

Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems

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image: 

Robot Floaty, Michael Mühlebach (left) and Ghadeer Elmkaiel (right). 

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Credit: MPI-IS / W. Scheible

Tübingen, Germany – Current flying objects face a trade-off: Drones with propellers for instance are very agile and able to hover, however they use up a lot of energy. Airplanes on the other hand feature fixed wings which allow them to fly very efficiently. The downside: they can’t remain suspended in the air like a kestrel on the lookout for prey.

Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (MPI-IS) in Tübingen and from the University of Stuttgart created a shape-changing flying robot named “Floaty” that can fly efficiently as well as stay stable in the air. The scientists’ work was published on June 21, 2026 in npj Robotics, an open access, peer-reviewed journal which is part of the Nature portfolio.

Floaty is inspired by birds which can glide and remain airborne by making use of wind currents and by simply adjusting their wings. Just like these animals, Floaty doesn’t utilize propellers to remain in the air.

In a video (https://youtu.be/Fl-G3xCPYdo?si=PYqGNd2Fu1F1avvg), the robot is featured flying in a wind tunnel with speeds of up to 10 m/s. Floaty makes use of the fast-rising air from below and quickly changes the four movable flaps on its top. By rotating these adjustable flaps, the robot controls how air flows around it, changing the air resistance. This allows Floaty to balance itself, even if air pushes it sideways – without the need for active propulsion and high-power consumption. Learned from many experiments inside the wind tunnel, Floaty relies on a learned aerodynamic model to precisely control itself and hover in place. It can successfully recover from physical pushes and wind disturbances.

„We believe our work opens up new ways of building flying robots that are more efficient and more sustainable,” says Ghadeer Elmkaiel, who is first author of the publication and a Ph.D. student in the Learning and Dynamical Systems Group at MPI-IS. “Instead of relying on thrust-generating motors, Floaty shows that robots can ride the wind intelligently, just like birds – saving a lot of energy while still staying controllable.”

Initially, the biggest challenge was making the robot naturally stable so it wouldn't flip over, while ensuring it remained easy to steer. During early wind tunnel tests, Floaty’s original flat shape caused it to tip over sideways instead of righting itself. To fix this, the researchers made two key design changes: they lowered the robot’s center of gravity and redesigned the rigid flaps by adding a precise bend. Thanks to these adjustments, Floaty is now naturally stable and automatically corrects its balance in mid-air.

“Our Floaty robot could be useful in many real-world situations where there are updrafts,” says Michael Mühlebach, who leads the Learning and Dynamical Systems Group and who is co-author of the publication. He gives several examples: “Floaty could inspect factory smokestacks where there is strong upward airflow. It could potentially work there with little modification. Similar technology could perhaps also help control rockets during re-entry, or it could help guide weather balloons. There are many ways in which the robot can take advantage of upward airflows to save energy.”

 

Reference:

Embodied intelligence for sustainable flight: a soaring robot with active morphological control

Ghadeer Elmkaiel, Syn Schmitt, and Michael Muehlebach

npj Robotics volume 4, Article number: 28 (2026)

https://www.nature.com/articles/s44182-026-00086-z

 

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Journal

npj Robotics

DOI

10.1038/s44182-026-00086-z 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Embodied intelligence for sustainable flight: a soaring robot with active morphological control

Like a miniature lunar rocket: Researchers develop modular nanorobot

University of Basel

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video: 

Animated explainer on the design and functionality of the modular nanorobot

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Credit: University of Basel Concept & Information Design: Marina Bräm, viz. bybraem Concept & Motion Design: Adrian Aghenitei

A team at the University of Basel, Switzerland, has developed a versatile nanorobot with propulsion and payload modules. The two reusable modules autonomously self-assemble and could be used in medicine or industry.

Nanorobots sound like science fiction: tiny machines for medicine, the environment, or industry. In fact, nanorobotics has become a rapidly growing field of research. It is considered a promising approach, for example, for delivering active substances to specific locations in the body. Unlike their larger-scale counterparts, they are not made of electronics, computer chips, and software, but rather of biomolecules and nanoparticles.

Researchers led by Prof. Dr. Cornelia Palivan from the University of Basel are now reporting on a sophisticated modular nanorobot with greater functional flexibility than many existing systems. “Previous nanorobots are often designed for a specific task only,” says Cornelia Palivan. “Our modular system, on the other hand, can be adapted to different applications.” The technology could be used not only in medicine but also in industry and environmental technology.

Propulsion module and payload capsule

The nanorobot, which the team describes in the journal Advanced Functional Materials, resembles a lunar rocket with multiple modules. A magnetic propulsion module moves the nanorobot, while a second module serves as a payload capsule, safely transporting therapeutic agents or enzymes to their target location.

In previous work, Palivan’s team developed nanoscale polymer vesicles that protect encapsulated enzymes. Molecules can enter the vesicle through pores, be processed by the enzymes and then their products are released into the environment. The payload capsule of the nanorobot contains four such enzyme-loaded polymer vesicles, providing the desired functionality. Depending on the design, the vesicles inside the payload capsule can also be selectively opened, for example to release bioactive compounds.

A DNA-based molecular Velcro system

The two modules are connected by a DNA-based “Velcro fastener”: complementary DNA strands on both modules ensure that the propulsion module and the payload capsule self-assemble in a programable manner and remain stably coupled.

To enable the nanorobot to dock onto specific cells or materials, the payload capsule is also equipped with additional biomolecules that facilitate docking. In the lab, the team tested this using a human cancer cell line known as HeLa cells. They loaded the nanorobots with fluorescent molecules and observed under the microscope that they accumulated on the surface of the cells.

Targeted attack on cancer cells and other applications

Equipped with the necessary enzymes, the nanorobots successfully produced an anticancer drug which reduced the viability of the HeLa cells to 16 percent within 72 hours. “The drug can have a concentrated local effect if we use our nanorobot to specifically target it to the cancer cells,” explains Dr. Voichita Mihali, the first author of the study.

For other applications outside the medical domain, for example catalysis, another feature might prove particularly valuable: Since the propulsion module is magnetic, the nanorobots can be retrieved and reused after their task is completed. The researchers were also able to separate the two modules, refill the payload capsules, and recombine them with the propulsion modules.

The modular nanorobot represents an important step toward a multifunctional tool for a wide range of applications. Although its use in humans remains a long-term goal, the system can be readily adapted for other domains simply by modifying the payload capsule.

The work was conducted within the framework of the National Center of Competence in Research – Molecular Systems Engineering and the Swiss Nanoscience Institute. The University of Basel team collaborated with researchers from Heidelberg University.

 

One of the nanorobots, imaged with a Transmission Electron Microscope.

Credit

Voichita Mihali, University of Basel

 

The nanorobot can attach itself to specific surfaces and carry out enzymatic reactions there. The enzymes (purple) inside the payload capsule convert molecules from the surrounding environment (left, dark gray) into the desired product (right, light gray).

Credit

University of Basel, Marina Bräm viz. bybraem

 

Illustration of the versatile nanorobot. It is 150 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair.

Credit

University of Basel, Marina Bräm viz. bybraem

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Journal

Advanced Functional Materials

DOI

10.1002/adfm.202600079 

Article Title

Multiplex Modular Nanorobotic Systems with Catalytic Activity under Magnetic Navigation

 

New technique filters PFAS forever chemicals using “molecular Velcro”

University of Florida

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A new gel-based material developed by University of Florida chemical engineers filters  PFAS “forever chemicals” from water more efficiently than many widely used commercial options.

The advance offers a potential new path to filtering out PFAS, which has been linked to health effects including birth defects and some cancers. Importantly, the new material doesn’t itself use fluorine to trap PFAS, helping to reduce fluorinated chemicals in the filtration supply chain.

“One of the big challenges is that these chemicals are present at such low concentrations, so they’re very difficult to detect and separate, but they can still impact human health,” said Joshua Moon, Ph.D., a professor of chemical engineering at UF who led the new study. “It’s like putting a drop of food coloring in an Olympic-sized swimming pool and then trying to get all the food coloring back out. It’s not easy.”

Moon and his doctoral student Lakshay Dhamania published their findings June 8 in the journal Energy and Environmental Materials. Moon’s lab is now working to further test and refine their PFAS-filtering methods for potential application in commercial and municipal water filtration.

In what Moon describes as “molecular Velcro,” the new material uses electrical charges designed to trap PFOA, one of the most abundant versions of PFAS in the environment. The gel allows PFOA molecules to bind throughout the material rather than only on its surface, improving its filtration capacity.

The gel can then be used multiple times by flushing out the PFOA with common solvents.

One of the researchers’ goals was to identify a way to filter out PFAS without relying on fluorinated materials. If those materials break down, they can potentially release fluorinated compounds back into the environment.

“A lot of the materials out there either don’t work well or have to rely on using fluorinated stuff to bind PFAS. We were able to develop these gel-type adsorbents that work well without having PFAS-like substances in the material itself,” Moon said.

For Moon, the long-term goal extends beyond a single filtration material.

By building polymers whose chemistry can be adjusted piece by piece, the researchers hope to uncover broader rules for trapping PFAS. That includes compounds that are harder to remove from water than PFOA.

“Maybe we can create new design principles or a better understanding of existing materials to overcome some of the big challenges that commercial treatment processes can't really do,” Moon said.

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Journal

Energy & Environmental Materials

DOI

10.1002/eem2.70435 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Chemically Modular, Nonfluorinated Polymer Adsorbents for Capturing Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)

Article Publication Date

8-Jun-2026

 

Montana State researchers aim to autonomously eliminate plant-killing bacteria from hydroponic farming systems

Montana State University

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BOZEMAN — Three researchers from Montana State University recently received a nearly $600,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to develop a system that can autonomously detect and remove crop-killing microbes from hydroponic farms before they cause damage to plants. Hydroponic farming is a method of growing plants without soil by supplying nutrients through water.

“This work is important to maintain food safety for our growing world,” said Stephan Warnat, the project’s principal investigator and an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering in MSU’s Norm Asbjornson College of Engineering. Co-project directors are the engineering college’s interim Dean Christine Foreman, who is also a professor of chemical and biological engineering, and Stephanie McCalla, an associate professor of chemical and biological engineering.

Certain crops, especially lettuces, tomatoes, strawberries and herbs, grow extremely well indoors hydroponically. Other benefits of hydroponic farming, compared to traditional soil-based agriculture, include higher water efficiency, faster plant growth, greater crop yield per square foot, year-round production, and control over the growing conditions, including nutrient levels and light exposure. Plus, hydroponic farms can thrive in environments inhospitable to traditional agriculture methods, including deserts and infertile land.

“A hydroponic system allows you to grow fresh produce all year round, which can be beneficial in harsh environments with cold winters,” Warnat said.

However, the challenges facing hydroponic farmers are substantial, including high startup costs and the fact that staple commodities such as wheat, corn and soybeans are considered far more economical to produce through traditional agriculture. The potential for toxic water-borne pathogens is another downside of hydroponic farming.

“The goal with this project is to keep pathogens out of the hydroponic system while allowing beneficial microbes to develop naturally,” Warnat said. “The challenge is that when you have a circulating water system with a microbial community, potentially some pathogens are developing and soon the entire harvest is dead.”

The team, Warnat said, plans to use electrochemical sensors to screen for harmful bacteria before they have a chance to harm the crops. The sensors are coated with aptamers, which are short, synthetic strands of DNA or RNA engineered to fold into a specific 3D shape. This unique shape allows it to act like a molecular “lock and key” to capture pathogens in the hydroponic systems. The electrochemical sensor changes its output based on the pathogen concentration. When they do, they trigger the release ofbiodegradable nanoparticles – made primarily from chitosan, a naturally occurring polymer – that have been engineered to capture bacteria, such as pathogenic Escherichia coli strains. When the chitosan binds to the harmful cells, it forms a larger agglomerate that can be removed by the hydroponic system's filtration equipment, protecting the harvest from pathogens.

The viability of the technologies involved in the three-step process – the detection, capture and removal of pathogens from a hydroponic farm – are each previously demonstrated to be effective. The system under development would combine the technologies in a way to automate the steps to protect hydroponic crops from harmful pathogens.

“The project addresses critical challenges faced by hydroponic farmers in Montana,” said Dilpreet Bajwa, head of the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering. “It will enhance productivity, profitability and resilience of hydroponic operations while supporting local food production and strengthening the state's agricultural economy.”

Another benefit of early detection and eradication of harmful bacteria is it allows plant-nourishing microbes to develop into biofilms, which can be beneficial to the crops.

“Helpful biofilms can function as fertilizers,” Warnat said. “These biofilms are healthy for plants. But you have to be careful which kind of biofilm is forming. If the pathogen is inside the biofilm, then that can lead to a catastrophic event – meaning total crop loss.”

Examples of biofilms include plaque on teeth, the muck that sometimes grows inside plumbing fixtures, and the slippery coating commonly found on rocks in streams, rivers and lakes.

Foreman and Warnat are affiliated with MSU’s Center for Biofilm Engineering, which is the world’s first and largest biofilm research center.

The grant will fund two graduate students; one master’s student and one doctoral student. The grant provides funding through April 30, 2029.

-end-

This story is available on the Web at: http://www.montana.edu/news/25414

 

UMass Amherst-led team discovers new way to make thermally insulative plastics

Plastics with low thermal conductivity could have aerospace and energy-efficient building applications

University of Massachusetts Amherst

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An illustration of THDBT (tetrahydroxy deoxybenzoin triazole) filler aggregates at the molecular level. In this “slow chaos” state, there are fewer vibrational pathways available for heat transport, resulting in lower thermal conductivity. Reproduced from Materials Horizons with permission from the Royal Society of Chemistry. 

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Credit: Yanfei Xu, UMass Amherst; Reproduced from Materials Horizons with permission from the Royal Society of Chemistry.

AMHERST, Mass. — University of Massachusetts Amherst researchers have demonstrated a possible new avenue for developing flame-retardant and generally low-conductivity (low heat transfer) plastics that retain the benefits of being strong and flexible by limiting the accessibility of heat-carrying vibrational channels of the material. This new design framework has promising applications, including lightweight thermal insulation materials for spacesuits, thermal protection components for spacecraft and advanced building materials that reduce heating and cooling losses. 

 

Thermal conductivity is a measure of how efficiently heat can move across a material. When heat moves quickly, the material is conductive. If heat moves slowly, the material is a good insulator. Conventionally, materials are made more insulative by the introduction of pockets of air, which are poor conductors. While effective for inorganic materials, this method does not work for plastics because it can weaken the material and complicate manufacturing.  

 

Yanfei Xu, corresponding author of the study and assistant professor in the Riccio College of Engineering at UMass Amherst, and her team investigated a new way to reduce conductivity without introducing porosity. Instead, they looked at the material’s vibration on an atomic level. Heat moves when vibrational energy is passed from one atom to another, much like a bucket brigade passes water down a line. Firefighters (here representing the atoms) move the bucket (representing heat) in coordinated movement, efficiently from point A to point B. 

 

To reduce conductivity, Xu and her team used vibrational engineering so that, instead of strong firefighters efficiently passing big buckets from one person to the next, the polymer behaves like a group of disorganized toddlers—no two children are moving in the same direction and the small hands can only carry small cups instead of big buckets.  

 

As a result, the heat moves along the material very slowly. In their initial trial of this new method (tested using a polymer hybrid of polyurethane and tetrahydroxy deoxybenzoin triazole), the researchers found that this “slow chaos,” as Xu describes the polymer’s behavior, reduced conductivity by 17%. The material also demonstrated flame-retardant behavior. 

 

Xu points out that their reduction in thermal conductivity is small in this initial testing, but she is excited about their discovery of a new mechanism for governing thermal conductivity.  

 

“There is a lot of potential,” she says. “By reducing the density of thermally accessible vibrational channels available for heat transport, thermal conductivity is suppressed. The materials remain dense, mechanically compliant and flame-retardant.”  

 

This research, published in Materials Horizons, was featured on the journal’s front cover. The work was conducted in collaboration with scientists from North Carolina State University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Texas A&M University, and Brookhaven, Oak Ridge and Argonne national laboratories. 

 

The research was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation, the Federal Aviation Administration and UMass Amherst.  

 

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Journal

Materials Horizons

DOI

10.1039/D6MH00633G 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Suppressing thermal transport in nonporous polymer hybrids by limiting thermally accessible vibrational modes