Origami: How the future unfolds

With the ancient art of origami, a sheet of paper can become almost anything. But in the modern age, the practice has moved beyond decorative planes and cranes. By fusing paper folding and technology, scientists and engineers are using the art form to help shape the future. “Origami” [is derived]( from the Japanese words “ori” (paper) and “kami” (folding), but has come to refer to paper folding practices of any culture. It starts with a flat sheet of paper, and [by using]( different folding and shaping techniques, a sculpture is born. This process can be satisfying, [therapeutic]( and [challenging]( but it’s more than just a hobby. “When you understand how paper folds, you can apply it to other things,” Robert Lang, a former NASA physicist who left to pursue his origami enthusiasm full time, [tells Great Big Story](. From [self-folding robots]( to [portable research stations]( the underlying principles of origami have proved crucial for technological progress. Origami, after all, is an [intrinsic part]( of life on earth. But more on that later. First, come into the fold. 🐦 [Tweet this!]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( [Quartz Obsession] Origami November 02, 2018 Playing with paper --------------------------------------------------------------- With the ancient art of origami, a sheet of paper can become almost anything. But in the modern age, the practice has moved beyond decorative planes and cranes. By fusing paper folding and technology, scientists and engineers are using the art form to help shape the future. “Origami” [is derived]( from the Japanese words “ori” (paper) and “kami” (folding), but has come to refer to paper folding practices of any culture. It starts with a flat sheet of paper, and [by using]( different folding and shaping techniques, a sculpture is born. This process can be satisfying, [therapeutic]( and [challenging]( but it’s more than just a hobby. “When you understand how paper folds, you can apply it to other things,” Robert Lang, a former NASA physicist who left to pursue his origami enthusiasm full time, [tells Great Big Story](. From [self-folding robots]( to [portable research stations]( the underlying principles of origami have proved crucial for technological progress. Origami, after all, is an [intrinsic part]( of life on earth. But more on that later. First, come into the fold. 🐦 [Tweet this!]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( Reuters/Vincent West Brief History Once upon a fold --------------------------------------------------------------- Paper-folding traditions have long existed around the world, although these separate histories didn’t converge into origami until the 20th century. According to Nick Robinson’s [The Origami Bible]( Japanese origami began when Buddhist monks folded paper to use in ceremonies during the 6th century. The paper [came from China]( where it was often folded and burned during burial rites. In Europe, [napkin folding]( thrived during the 16th and 17th centuries, though paper folding in Spain could [date back as far as]( the 12th century. Akira Yoshizawa, considered the [father of modern origami]( created a universally accessible system for origami instructions in 1954, which meant that folders around the world then had a uniform way to practice their art. This caught the eye of Samuel Randlett and Robert Harbin, two other origami enthusiasts, who added their own symbols to create the standard [Yoshizawa-Randlett system]( in 1961. (You can find an introduction to basic origami folds [here]( That’s when origami started to [gain interest in the West](. Erotic folklorist and paper-folding enthusiast [Gershon Legman]( organized an [exhibition of Yoshizawa’s art]( at a gallery in Amsterdam in 1955. Shortly thereafter, well-connected New York housewife Lillian Oppenheimer, who would popularize the art in books with pioneering puppeteer Shari Lewis, began what would become [the Origami Center](. One of its members was [Martin Gardner]( then just starting a decades-long run as a beloved Scientific American columnist; one of his early columns, in 1959, was devoted to origami. By the digits [50,000:]( Origami models made by Akira Yoshizawa during his lifetime [913:]( Folds required for Hans Birkeland’s Red Sea Urchin [7:]( Number of axioms describing the geometry of origami, discovered by mathematicians Humiaki Huzita and Koshiro Hatori [100:]( Number of standard origami designs circa 1950 [30,000:]( Number of origami designs five decades later Giphy Quotable “When I’m folding, it’s like working with an old friend. It’s like dancing with a partner whose moves I know.” —[Robert Lang, physicist and origami enthusiast, to Great Big Story]( True story The girl who wanted to live --------------------------------------------------------------- [Sadako Sasaki]( was only two kilometers (1.2 miles) away from where the atomic bomb fell on Hiroshima in 1945. She was two years old. As a result of radiation sickness, Sasaki was diagnosed with leukemia when she was 12. With only a year to live, she decided to fold 1,000 paper cranes. [In Japanese culture]( cranes are known as “birds of happiness,” and the myth goes that if you fold 1,000 paper cranes, known as senbazuru, your wish will come true. [Sadako and the 1000 Paper Cranes]( is a historical novel by Eleanor Coerr based on the real story of Sasaki. In Coerr’s retelling, Sasaki’s only wish was to live, but she only made it to 644 cranes when she became too weak to fold any more, and she died shortly after. However, [according to Sadako’s older brother]( Masahiro Sadako, she actually exceeded her goal in real life. The [Children’s Peace Monument]( in Hiroshima commemorates Sadako, as well as all the other children who lost their lives because of the atomic bombs. Every year, thousands of paper cranes are left there. Watch this! It starts with a tissue box, but it soon turns into a journey involving numerous animals. This stop-motion animation shows that even your tableside tissues can tell a story. because science Origamibots --------------------------------------------------------------- If you think a an[origami dragon]( is cool, imagine how awesome an origami robot would be. In 2014, the first ever self-folding robot that could work without an operator was created, based on the art of origami. Samuel Felton, at the time a graduate student at Harvard who designed the robot, [told the New York Times]( that he hoped Ikea-like tables could assemble themselves, or that computers could soon use the math of origami folding to build even more complex bots. The latter seems to have happened. In 2016, researchers at MIT created an [ingestible origami robot]( made of meat that can perform tasks inside the body once it unfolds. In 2017, a team from MIT also created exoskeletons for origami bots, which would allow them to [shape-shift]( complete different activities. Just this year, scientists at Seoul National University even built an origami claw for a drone—you can [watch this Quartz video]( to learn how they work. Giphy Life source The origami in me --------------------------------------------------------------- When you’re looking at just the notations that make up origami instructions, how can you tell what it will become? A bird, a tiger, a giraffe? “That challenge, incidentally, is exactly what many scientists have struggled with for decades, because life—all life—depends on origami,” Ed Yong [writes for The Atlantic](. Human life depends on proteins, which carry out cell functions that keep us alive. Proteins are built in sequences of amino acids according to instructions that are already encoded in our genes. That two-dimensional protein chain “naturally folds into a complicated three-dimensional shape in a feat of spontaneous origami,” Yong writes.“It’s that shape that determines what proteins can do; it’s that shape that we need to understand.” How complicated? It’s [one of the hardest problems in science]( one we’ve collectively thrown vast amounts of computing power at. From creating antibodies to fighting off disease, to sending signals between different cells and tissues, proteins are [a vital part]( the human body—as is the origami that forms them. Fun fact In 2013, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation issued a challenge for someone to design the “next generation condom.” The “[Origami Condom]( which features accordion-like folds made out of silicone, was one of the top designs. Reuters/Mark Blinch Pop quiz During the national origami convention at the American Museum of Natural History in 1984, there was a two-foot tall paper model of which Canadian landmark? West Edmonton Mall, EdmontonConfederation Bridge, between Prince Edward Island and New BrunswickSaint Joseph’s Oratory, MontrealCN Tower, Toronto Correct. ''The slightest breeze and down it goes,'' said Kathy Weller, who lives in Toronto and created the model, told the New York Times. Incorrect. If your inbox doesn’t support this quiz, find the solution at bottom of email. To infinity, and beyond --------------------------------------------------------------- Origami is already, quite literally, out of this world. Origami expert Robert Lang, the former NASA physicist, has used his folding techniques to design compact, foldable, and expandable structures that can be [sent to outer space]( in rockets or satellites. (He’s also written a software program, [TreeMaker]( to work out crease patterns for his most complex origami models.) Just this month, the EuroMoonMars project [completed prototypes]( for human habitats and research stations on other planets based on origami. According to the researchers, these structures are lightweight and can be re-used in different configurations, making them ideal for intergalactic exploration. Giphy Poll Do you practice origami? [Click here to vote]( Yes!Not since I made paper cranes in schoolNever even tried 💬let's talk! 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