Name: Can we make things that make themselves?
Uploaded: 2011-09-01T15:29:02Z
Duration: 5 min 47 s
Description: MIT researcher Skylar Tibbits works on self-assembly -- the idea that instead of building something (a chair, a skyscraper), we can create materials that build themselves, much the way a strand of DNA zips itself together. It's a big concept at early stages; Tibbits shows us three in-the-lab projects that hint at what a self-assembling future might look like.

MIT researcher Skylar Tibbits works on self-assembly -- the idea that instead of building something (a chair, a skyscraper), we can create materials that build themselves, much the way a strand of DNA zips itself together. It's a big concept at early stages; Tibbits shows us three in-the-lab projects that hint at what a self-assembling future might look like.

Can we make things that make themselves?

Natural systems like proteins and DNA assemble themselves with stunning speed, efficiency, and complexity, far surpassing current human manufacturing. By translating these principles into architecture and technology, materials could one day self-assemble, replicate, and repair, changing the way buildings and machines come together. Laboratory experiments already demonstrate programmable chains and structures that fold into shape using only local instructions, hinting at a future where construction is embedded in the material itself.