Origami-Inspired 3D Materials Could Create Easy Pop-Up Shelters

A new kind of metamaterial—material that changes how it behaves according to its structural design—created by scientists at Harvard University could change the way we think about pop-up housing. Engineers there used origami to design a sturdy, shape-shifting, 3D material that can shrink, expand, and fold completely flat with little outside force and without getting damaged. (Existing metamaterials inspired by origami are typically created from folding 2D sheets.)