Flying robots that can carry objects 40 times of their own weight and even open doors have been developed in a collaboration between Stanford University and Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland. Called FlyCroTug the tiny robots have advanced gripping technologies and the ability to move and pull on objects around it. When working in pairs, two FlyCroTugs can jointly lasso the door handle and heave the door open. The clever bots can adhere themselves to surfaces using adhesives inspired by the feet of geckos and insects. These sticky'hands' allow the robust to pull objects 40 times their weight, such as door handles, cameras or water bottles.

You might know wasps for their ability to brainwash cockroaches or inflict one of the most painful stings on Earth--one so powerful that the actual scientific advice to victims is to just lie down and scream until it passes. Lesser-known is the wasp's superlative ability to carry loads that are unexpectedly heavy given the creature's size. Small drones, or "micro air vehicles," are only able to lift the equivalent of their own weight. If we want flying robots that can move massive objects without requiring them to be the size of pterodactyls, engineers will need to come up with new ways of lifting stuff. So drone designers are looking to wasps for help, and developing creative ways to use the environment itself as a secret weapon in robotics.