biostudies-literatureChen YNational Natural Science Foundation of ChinaNational Natural Science Foundation of China (National Science Foundation of China)3036https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC10219969biostudies-literatureUnknown14(1)In nature, many plants have evolved diverse flight mechanisms to disperse seeds by wind and propagate their genetic information. Inspired by the flight mechanism of the dandelion seeds, we demonstrate light-driven dandelion-inspired microfliers based on ultralight and super-sensitive tubular-shaped bimorph soft actuator. Like dandelion seeds in nature, the falling velocity of the as-proposed microflier in air can be facilely controlled by tailoring the degree of deformation of the "pappus" under different light irradiations. Importantly, the resulting microflier is able to achieve a mid-air flight above a light source with a sustained flight time of ~8.9 s and a maximum flight height of ~350 mm thanks to the unique dandelion-like 3D structures. Unexpectedly, the resulting microflier is fouNature communicationsLight-driven dandelion-inspired microfliers.PMC102199695217318151973155Yang XZhang XFeng WChen YValenzuela CWang LfalseLight-driven dandelion-inspired microfliers.In nature, many plants have evolved diverse flight mechanisms to disperse seeds by wind and propagate their genetic information. Inspired by the flight mechanism of the dandelion seeds, we demonstrate light-driven dandelion-inspired microfliers based on ultralight and super-sensitive tubular-shaped bimorph soft actuator. Like dandelion seeds in nature, the falling velocity of the as-proposed microflier in air can be facilely controlled by tailoring the degree of deformation of the "pappus" under different light irradiations. Importantly, the resulting microflier is able to achieve a mid-air flight above a light source with a sustained flight time of ~8.9 s and a maximum flight height of ~350 mm thanks to the unique dandelion-like 3D structures. Unexpectedly, the resulting microflier is fou2023-01-01T00:00:00Z2023 May2025-04-18T14:20:05.933Z2025-04-07T00:28:13.291ZS-EPMC102199693723698910.1038/s41467-023-38792-z