ArticleScience robotics2025
Reversible kink instability drives ultrafast jumping in nematodes and soft robots.
Article in Science robotics, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Impacting Fuelling Dynamics Towards Tunable Liquid Metal Machine.Exploration (Beijing, China) · 2026Article
- Feline-Inspired Robot Enabled by Combustion-Driven Actuators for Agile Motion and High-Payload Obstacle Traversal.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Springtail-inspired compliant hinge enables terrain-adaptable takeoff in insect-scale robots.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Electrostatics facilitate midair host attachment in parasitic jumping nematodes.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
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7 authors.
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Abstract
Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) exhibit a bending-elastic instability, or kink, before becoming airborne, a feature previously hypothesized but not substantiated to enhance jumping performance. Here, we provide the evidence that this kink is crucial for improving launch performance. We demonstrate that EPNs actively modulate their aspect ratio, forming a liquid-latched α-shaped loop over a slow timescale [Formula: see text] (1 second), and then rapidly open it [Formula: see text] (10 microseconds), achieving heights of 20 body lengths and generating power of ∼10
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