Keith Srakocic / AP
A group of scientists has created an artificial Venus flytrap using optical fiber and molecular switches that can hang onto objects hundreds of times heavier than itself, per New Scientist, — but it might look a little different than you're expecting.
The design: The artificial flytrap is just a few millimeters wide and less than a centimeter tall. It uses light from its optical fiber "stem" to reflect back from an object onto its molecular switch "leaves" to know when to snap shut.
A future use: These flytraps might be used in nano-production lines to pull out items with defects.
Nature still wins: The artificial flytrap takes 200 milliseconds to shut — double the reaction time of a real Venus flytrap.