If you thought walking on water was impressive, try jumping. Researchers have built a robot that can jump on water just like a real water strider. While it’s not the first robot to mimic the water-gliding insect’s skating motion, it’s the first that can actually bounce on water. Robots that can maneuver nimbly on a pond or lake surface could be used for pollution monitoring or surveillance missions. The new robot, designed by engineer Jie Zhao and colleagues from China’s Harbin Institute of Technology, is described July 25 in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. It’s six inches long and weighs about as much as a wooden pencil, or 1,000 times the weight of a real water strider. Read the full story at Wired.