The plastic piece crawled like a worm.

Dutch and American scientists have created a new polymer material that can "crawl" in ultraviolet light.

Plastic pieces can "crawl" like worms when exposed to ultraviolet light. Video:Reuters.

Scientists at Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands have created a special plastic that can crawl like worms when exposed to ultraviolet light, Reuters reported on August 7.

This plastic is made fromLiquid polymers are commonly used in LCD displays. In the frame, the plastic part is exposed to ultraviolet light.contracts while the part not exposed to light expands, creating movement.

"The first important factor is the type of molecule that can stretch quickly so that the plastic can deform and return to its original shape,"co-author Anne Hélène Gélébart explains."The second factor is self-shading. We pre-curved the plastic so that whenlight, one part of the plastic is illuminated, the other part is in the shadow".

The ability to completely absorb ultraviolet light allows this plastic to create shadows that create movement. The plastic can move at a speed of one centimeter per second, the same speed as the worm.

According to co-author Dirk Jan Mulder, the new polymer material could be used to remove dust from solar panels after desert sandstorms by moving in the presence of ultraviolet light. The material could also be used to makeTiny light-guided robot crawls into tight spaces.

According to VNE