The Origami Revolution

NOVA released a fascinating hour-long program on the power and uses of origami. For example, the principles of ancient paper folding practice are used today for design of satellites and micro robots as well as in developing new medicines. The show explored how the rules of origami follow those in nature as in how leaves grow and how insects fly. “With this burgeoning field of origami-inspired-design, the question is: can the mathematics of origami be boiled down to one elegant algorithm—a fail-proof guidebook to make any object out of a flat surface, just by folding? And if so, what would that mean for the future of design?”