A paper published in Nature at the end of June details the Multi-Modal Mobility Morphobot robotic system. Given that the name is a bit of a tongue twister that sounds like a late-80s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle knockoff, we’ll be following their lead and referring to it as M4 henceforth. There’s a sea lion, which uses flippers to swim and walk; a meerkat, which stands on its hind legs to check for danger; and the chukar bird (new one to me -- it’s a partridge that primarily lives in Asia and Europe), which relies on its wings for assistance and balance when walking up an incline.