A closer look

Origami is not just for making paper cranes; it is for saving you from the sheer humiliation of refolding a map. Japanese astrophysicist Koryo Miura invented a specific folding technique that allows a massive sheet of paper to be collapsed or expanded with a single pull. By using a grid of interconnected parallelograms, the Miura fold prevents tearing and completely eliminates the nightmare of crinkling your map back into an unidentifiable square.