Material? Robot? It’s a metabot

The invention is a metamaterial, which is a material engineered to feature new and unusual properties that depend on the material's physical structure rather than its chemical composition. In this case, the researchers built their metamaterial using a combination of simple plastics and custom-made magnetic composites. Using a magnetic field, the researchers changed the metamaterial's structure, causing it to expand, move and deform in different directions, all remotely without touching the metamaterial.