Origami in seed capsules
(PhysOrg.com) -- A number of plants disperse their seeds in a rather artistic way: the seed capsules of the ice plant Delosperma nakurense, for instance, unfold lids over the seed compartments in the manner of a movable origami when they are moistened by rain. This is the finding of researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam and the Technische Universität Dresden in a precise investigation of the opening mechanism. The lids open up because cells on the inside of them absorb water and change their structure. The plant, which grows in very arid regions, thereby ensures that its seeds have a good chance of opening. The researchers are keen to use this model to develop materials that move when they become wet or when their temperature changes.