The Atlantic

Octopus-Inspired Material Can Change Its Texture

The U.S. Army is funding the creation of shape-shifting sheets that mimic the abilities of the ocean’s masters of camouflage.
Source: Ina Fassbender / Reuters

There’s a famous viral video in which a diver slowly swims up to a clump of rock and seaweed, only for part of that clump to turn white, open its eye, and jet away, squirting ink behind it. Few videos so dramatically illustrate an octopus’s mastery of camouflage. But ignore, if you can, the creature’s color, and focus on its . As its skin shifts from mottled brown to spectral white, it also goes from lumpy to smooth. In literally the blink of an eye,

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