In the paper-folding contest that is life, I recall the tiny origami box I once constructed as a personal coup. This achievement fails to impress, however, when judged alongside Robert Lang’s six-inch-tall, free-standing moose, pictured here.
Lang, a former physicist and engineer who now devotes all his attention to the venerable Japanese art of origami, has crafted hundreds of original designs, from battling insects to a hermit crab, that can be seen on his website. His skills have also found pragmatic applications. As documented on Damn Interesting, Lang has collaborated with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in designing the successor to the Hubble Telescope. This new long-range telescope will comprise two large lenses that can be folded up for easier transportation into orbit–via gigantic paper airplanes, I hope.
