Cornell University engineers have designed a small X-shaped robot with the ability to detect damage and restore itself back to functional condition. The soft-bodied machine utilizes changes in light to determine where the researchers have cut it, which then triggers interlocking polymer chains in its skin to heal over the punctured area. Like a Terminator machine from the movies, the bot demonstrated it could survive multiple injuries, taking about a minute per puncture to self-heal and continue moving. The team hopes their research will allow robots to survive for longer in hostile environments like space.