For anything light enough like leaves or insects such as a water strider, a body of water's surface tension gives the uppermost areas of the liquid a bit of elasticity. In effect, it becomes a virtual solid that can be rested upon and even moved across. The CMU Water Strider by NanoRobotics Laboratory relies on this principle to traverse liquids much like its counterpart.

The goal of the project is to create a 'bot that will be able to access many areas normally out of bounds. What would it be able to accomplish? Well, you probably won't see the robots as fancy pool cleaners anytime soon, but they could certainly be used to remotely monitor water quality or operate where there is enough water to skim around, such as a sewer system.

Click on through for a video of the CMU Water Strider in action.

NanoRobotics Laboratory, via BotJunkie