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This soft robot withstands crushing pressures at the ocean’s greatest depths

Its fins flapped at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, a step toward studying life there

robot swimming in South China Sea

Inspired by the deep-sea snailfish, researchers designed a soft autonomous robot that can swim in deep ocean waters. Here it navigates about 3,200 meters deep in the South China Sea.

Li et al/ Nature 2021

By Carolyn Gramling

Inspired by a strange fish that can withstand the punishing pressures of the deepest reaches of the ocean, scientists have devised a soft autonomous robot capable of keeping its fins flapping — even in the deepest part of the Mariana Trench.