Movement Without Wheels

Who said there is nothing new under the sun? Surely not Theo Jansen, the Dutch artist who turns wood, plastic tubing, lemonade bottles, and rags into giant, animal-like objects that come alive on Holland's coastal beaches. You can see his creatures and read about him at ted.com/speakers/theo_jansen.

Help kids look around the world to find inspiration. The earlier post, "Robots for Good," showed how wheels could move artificial humans. Now, Jansen shows how wind pumping air into old lemonade bottles can propel spindly plastic legs while a creature's body remains steady. Sensing it could become stuck in dangerous water or on loose sand, his "Strandbeests" even can reverse direction.