Don't Build—Create Materials that Build Themselves

MIT researcher Skylar Tibbits devotes himself to the idea of self-assembly. Why build something when you can create materials that build themselves? Or at least that's the theory. Think of strands of DNA zipping themselves together. In the video to the right, Tibbits walks us through three early-stage lab experiments to delve into how self-assembly might be part of our future.

After watching the video here, head over to the Ted Talks site and take a look at some of the commentary about the usefulness of such research.

What do you think--useful or too much of a stretch?

illustration: Katy Tresedder via Flickr