Last updated at 6:23 AM on 13th November 2011
It's like origami without using your hands! Researchers have found a way of making a material fold on its own.
North Carolina State University professor Michael Dickey and his research team have figured out a way to turn sheets of plastic into boxes and other shapes just by applying heat to them.
The scientists used plastic sheets that shrink when placed under infrared light.
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Shape of things to come: Using the heat from a light a piece of plastic has transformed into a perfect box
Before the heat is on: Black ink is applied to the lines that will fold
According to newscientist.com, they used a regular inkjet printer to put black ink along the lines to be folded.
They found that black absorbs more energy than pale colours.
That means that the lines first shrink more than the rest of the plastic and thern fold up when subjected to the heat.
Like a star: The plastic before the sides move and it morphs into a pyramid
Guided by the light: The heat from the light draws up the four sides as they go on to join and make a pyramid
When they made the black ink wider, the angle of the fold increased.
A range of shapes can then be produced and in the researchers' video they create a rectangular box, a pyramid and other shapes.
Newscientist.com points out that the experiment was not the first self-folding venture.
Researchers at Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology last year used silicon rubber and 'shape memory' alloy foil to create a material that folds into a previously-held shape when heated.
The new method, however, could far-reaching implications for the packaging industry down the line.
As Gawker.com quips, Mr Dickey and his team must work out how they can do this with cardboard before the Christmas wrapping season gets underway.
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