NASA Files Patent For Amorphous Amoeba Robots To Use In Space

NASA is trying to turn the traditional way we design robots upside down. No wheels or legs, just an amorphous gelatin-filled blob. They would slither and roll across terrain, moving with more ease than its traditional counterpart! The idea is an ingenious adaptation for space exploration, as you can't really do anything if your Mars rover lands a wheel in a pothole and can't roll out.

On a more practical level, these robots would be ideal for disaster situations around the world. Rescue bots could slither into hard to reach places and through rubble to search for survivors.

The video below, which I first saw via TechCrunch, is really cool. Never in a million years would I have imagined robots could one day look like this, and it seems NASA is deeming this the future of space exploration. Hell, I want one just to go under my house and do plumbing work.