News Physics

These parachutes unfurl thanks to the Japanese art of kirigami

The perforated disks could be useful for humanitarian aid drops or package delivery

A water bottle dangles from a lacy, vase-shaped parachute.

A water bottle is gently lowered by a parachute (center) made of a Mylar disk with cuts that allow it to unfurl as the bottle falls (close-up of the parachute shown in background).

Frédérick Gosselin

By Emily Conover

Read another version of this article at Science News Explores

These parachutes may be full of holes, but they really hit the mark.