We do have a slew of smart stuff around us, ranging from smartphones to smart cars and I suppose, smart homes. How about smart paper? No, such paper will not be able to correct your handwriting from the get go, but rather, this smart paper is actually self-folding origami thanks to the wonders of graphene paper. The use of special graphene sheets allowed researchers from China to come up with origami-like objects which are capable of moving around whenever both heat and light are applied.
Needless to say, it is origami that proved to be the original inspiration for this team of researchers at Donghua University in China, where heat and infrared light were found to be able to move small objects which are made out of graphene sheets. Since this case uses two kinds graphene sheets that are one atom thick each, and happen to be infused with hydrogen and oxygen compounds, it will be able to absorb water from the air so that dedicated sections of the paper can manipulated to shrink, bend, and move around when heat is applied.
Imagine some practical use of this in the form of smart clothing – allowing clothes to “change its shape and style in response to body temperature, environmental changes or other gentle stimulations.” Other possible uses of this self-folding paper would be to implement them in miniature robots (Transformers, anyone?), artificial muscle, and tissue engineering.