Stranger things. Engineers at Yale University’s The Faboratory have developed a soft 
robot that can amputate its own limb, then reattach it, thereby editing its body morphology as needed. Designed with a quadrupedal structure, the soft robot can move using air-filled chambers. Its new joints are made from a new bicontinuous thermoplastic foam material that acts like a sponge, preventing the polymer from running all over the place when it melts. This means the two surfaces can be pulled apart by melting the joint, and then cooled to reconnect it. While the tech is in early stages, it’s a step towards creating adaptable, shape-shifting robots that can edit their form to suit the task or environment.
