"Camouflaged robots may hide and be protected from animal attacks and may better approach animals for studying them in their natural habitats," Cecilia Laschi, a professor of biorobotics at the BioRobotics Institute of the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, in Pisa, Italy, wrote in an accompanying article in the current issue of Science. "Of course, camouflage may also support military applications, where reducing a robot's visibility provides it with advantages in accessing dangerous areas," wrote Laschi, who wasn't involved in the current study. The researchers, led by James Pikul of the University of Pennsylvania and Robert Shepherd of Cornell University,...