Origami, the ancient art form solving modern problems | Miles Wu

Summary

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Episode Overview

Podcast: TED Talks Daily
Episode Title: Origami, the ancient art form solving modern problems
Speaker: Miles Wu
Date: June 11, 2026
Host: Elise Hu
Special Guest: Chloe Shashaw Brooks, TED Curator

This TED Talks Daily episode spotlights teenage origami innovator Miles Wu, who demonstrates how the ancient art of paper folding can lead to creative, impactful solutions in science and engineering—most notably, using origami-inspired techniques to rethink deployable structures for modern challenges like emergency shelters. The episode seamlessly blends a story of youthful curiosity with tangible real-world applications.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Allure and Accessibility of Origami

• Personal Introduction to Origami:

  • Miles began folding at age seven, starting with family holiday ornaments and later making intricate designs.
  • Folding is a continuous passion: “No matter what, I'm always folding. Give me any scrap of paper and I'll challenge myself to turn it into something.” — Miles Wu (00:16, 04:58)

• Turning Nothing into Something:

  • For Miles, origami is about transforming everyday materials into art and inspiration.
  • Everyday contexts inspire creation, from folding sample cups at Trader Joe’s into cranes to using long receipts as centipedes.

2. Origami as a Tool for Empowerment and Community

• Origami to Support Others:
  • During the pandemic, Miles sent origami birds to seniors in nursing homes for comfort.
  • He raised over $4,000 for a soup kitchen and a bird rehabilitation nonprofit by selling hand-folded pigeons and sparrows.
  • “Through this project, I was able to see the power of the most humble material, a simple piece of paper, to really help my community.” — Miles Wu (06:22)

3. The Intersection of Origami and Science

• Curiosity Drives Discovery:

  • Inspired by how scientists and engineers use origami, Miles explored its role in real-world applications, like NASA’s starshade and medical stents.
  • Elise Hu describes these visual parallels, noting how Miles’ paper models echo cutting-edge engineering solutions. — (07:15-07:45)

• Focus on the Miura Ori Fold:

  • The Miura Ori, a fold invented in the 1970s by astrophysicist Koryo Miura, is a repeating tessellation enabling compact, efficient folding with broad applications—especially in deployable space structures.
  • Miles speculates on using this structure to improve emergency shelter designs, making them lightweight, compact, but also remarkably strong.

4. Science in Action: Miles’ Experiment

• DIY Scientific Process:

  • For his 8th grade science fair, Miles designed and tested 18 different Miura Ori patterns, varying by fold geometry and paper type—culminating in 108 folded samples.
  • He measured the strength-to-weight ratio for each, discovering that models with smaller, less acute angles made from lighter paper were the strongest.
  • The strongest held almost 200 pounds; the lightest held over 10,000 times its own weight.
  • “It’s amazing that something can be so strong and yet so lightweight at the same time. And it’s exciting to think about what potential applications a fold like this could have.” — Miles Wu (08:57)

• Practical Lessons and Recognition:

  • Miles’ home became his laboratory, overflowing with origami and makeshift weights, embodying the spirit of playful experimentation.
  • The project won him a top national STEM prize: “I was really shocked to receive such a big prize for simply playing with paper.” — Miles Wu (09:54)

5. Behind the Scenes and Broader Takeaways

• Curator’s Perspective:

  • TED curator Chloe Shashaw Brooks shares admiration for Miles’ humility, curiosity, and the childlike mindset that spurred real innovation.
  • “Kids just do things because it's fun and cool and interesting... The more we allow kids to play, the more likely they are to discover things.” — Chloe Shashaw Brooks (11:46)

• Inspiration for Future Innovators:

  • The episode advocates for fostering curiosity and free play in young people, highlighting how true breakthroughs often emerge from unstructured, joyful exploration.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Always Folding:
  “No matter what, I'm always folding. Give me any scrap of paper and I'll challenge myself to turn it into something.” — Miles Wu (00:16, 04:58)

• On Helping Others:
  “Through this project, I was able to see the power of the most humble material, a simple piece of paper, to really help my community.” — Miles Wu (06:22)

• On Discovery:
  “It’s amazing that something can be so strong and yet so lightweight at the same time. And it’s exciting to think about what potential applications a fold like this could have.” — Miles Wu (08:57)

• On Childlike Curiosity:
  “Kids just do things because it's fun and cool and interesting... The more we allow kids to play, the more likely kids are to discover things.” — Chloe Shashaw Brooks (11:46)

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Key Timestamps

• 00:16 & 04:58 – Miles recalls his instinct to fold anything, anywhere
• 06:22 – Discussing origami as a force for community good
• 07:15-07:45 – Visual link between origami and technology, described by Elise Hu
• 07:45-09:54 – Miles’ experiment on the Miura Ori fold: design, testing, results, and insight
• 10:38 – TED Curator’s Corner introduction
• 11:09-12:39 – Curator's reflection on Miles' process and the importance of play

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Summary

This episode offers a vibrant portrait of how passionate, playful curiosity—in this case, sparked by origami—can unlock new solutions for real-world challenges. Miles Wu’s story echoes a hopeful message: when young minds are free to play, tinker, and test ideas, even “just playing with paper” can lead to innovation with genuine, far-reaching impact. The conversation, further emphasized by the TED curator’s insights, is an inspiring call to give space and support to the next generation of problem solvers.

Transcript

[Elise Hu]

You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host, Elise Hu. For 14 year old miles Wu, it all starts with a simple piece of paper.

[Miles Wu]

No matter what, I'm always folding, give me any scrap of paper and I'll challenge myself to turn it into something. It's this process of turning nothing into something that sparks my imagination and draws me to origami.

[Elise Hu]

Miles is an origami innovator who's been folding paper into intricate shapes and patterns since he was 7 years old. He's gotten into trouble in class for turning his worksheets into ninja stars and has raised more than $4,000 for his community one folded pigeon at a time. But in this talk, he focuses on how that same playful curiosity led him somewhere he didn't expect into the intersection of origami and science.

[Miles Wu]

Origami is fun, but playing with paper has also shown me that origami has the power to stretch my creativity, help others, and even lead to new discoveries. It's amazing that something can be so strong and yet so lightweight at the same time. And it's exciting to think about what potential applications a fold like this could have.

[Elise Hu]

This is what it looks like when curiosity doesn't wait for permission and stick around. After the talk, we caught up with ted's curator Chloe Shashaw Brooks, who shared a few more thoughts on what it was like to work with Miles and takeaways on the ideas he offers. That's all coming up right after a short break.

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[Miles Wu]

I love origami. I love the way I can transform a simple piece of paper into almost anything, like a wheel, bug, my grandparents, or even a neuron cell. I'm 14 years old, I live in New York City and I'm in ninth grade, so I'm usually busy with homework or after school activities. But in my free time, I really enjoy doing origami. Origami is fun, but playing with paper has also shown me that origami has the power to stretch my creativity, help others, and even lead to new discoveries. And today, I'd like to share one small discovery that I made and how I got there. So I started folding origami over seven years ago, making ornaments from my family's tiny Christmas tree, and getting in trouble in class for turning my worksheets into ninja stars and paper claws. As you can imagine, my teachers were less than overjoyed, but I told them I was making academic weapons. Over time, I began folding more complex origami and even designing my own models. But no matter what, I'm always folding. Give me any scrap of paper and I'll challenge myself to turn it into something. For example, if I'm waiting in line at Trader Joe's, I might turn a sample cup into a crane, or even a super long CVS receipt into a centipede, or even the New York Times into a lizard. And it's this process of turning nothing into something that sparks my imagination and draws me to origami. I've also found that origami has the power to help others. During the pandemic, eight year old me wrote cards and mailed origami birds to seniors at my local nursing home to cheer them up during quarantine. And more recently, I've been folding even more origami birds. Two years ago, I folded some origami pigeons. By some, I mean 200 of them. If you couldn't tell, pigeons are my favorite birds. And then the following year, I folded sparrows, another bird that overlooked but that I personally love. And I folded 100 of them and sold them alongside the pigeons to raise over $4,000 to donate to my local soup kitchen, as well as a nonprofit that rehabilitates injured and orphaned birds in New York City. And so, through this project, I was able to see the power of the most humble material, a simple piece of paper, to really help my community. More recently, I've been interested in the intersection of origami and science and engineering. I think it started in middle school when I began going down rabbit holes to see how scientists and researchers and engineers were using origami folds, for example, in space, or even to help sick people.

[Elise Hu]

Elise here jumping in real quick to describe the images Miles has just shared. On screen, on the left, we see an origami creation that looks like a flower. And on the right, an image of a NASA starshade in space that's clearly mimicking the origami shape. Then we see a picture of a cylinder origami creation called a water bomb tessellation. And on the right, a picture of a cardiac stent used in surgery that's clearly based on the geometric structure and patterns built with paper.

[Miles Wu]

But one fold interested me in particular, and this was the Mir Ori folder. It was invented in the 1970s by Koryo Miura, a Japanese astrophysicist. It's a tessellation, which means it's a repeating pattern of parallelograms. And the way these parallelograms are arranged, they're able to fold down to an extremely compact size in one smooth motion. And this makes Mirror Ori an efficient, deployable structure that's even been used to fold a solar array that was sent into space. And last year, I was also reading the news about natural disasters like Hurricane Helene, and I saw so many people displaced, and it made me wonder if Mir Ori could be used to improve emergency deployable shelters by making them stronger and lighter. And so, for my 8th grade science fair project, I decided to study Miro Ori and how I could optimize its strength to weight ratio. I started out by designing 18 different folding patterns. These had different heights, widths, and angles of the parallelograms in the pattern. I tested each of these patterns across three different paper weights and each of those variations twice, for a total of 108 Mirror Ori that I folded and tested. And for each of these Mirror Ori, I wanted to see not only how much weight they could hold, but also how many times their own weight they could hold. And so, for two months, I transformed my family's small New York City apartment into my testing lab, with Mir Ori all over the place. When I was first starting out, I grabbed basically every heavy book and item, and I stacked them on top of the mirror Ori. But I quickly realized I didn't actually have enough weights to accurately test the models. And so I asked my parents to buy some really heavy exercise weights 250 hours later. And after a lot of heavy lifting, I found that the Mirror Ori, with the smallest and least acutely angled panels made out of the lightest paper, had the greatest strength to weight ratio. The strongest pattern held almost 200 pounds. And another lighter version held more than 10,000 times its own weight. I found that the stronger patterns were more compact, and they also created truss like structures that were able to distribute pressure evenly. It's amazing that something can be so strong and yet so lightweight at the same time. And it's exciting to think about what potential applications a fold like this could have, maybe even helping to imagine a better emergency shelter one day. And so this work that I did by myself at home, it led to me receiving the top prize at a national STEM competition last year. I was really shocked to receive such a big prize for simply playing with paper. And so, in the future, I definitely want to keep exploring and learning, but most of all, to keep playing with origami so I can continue to discover all the possibilities a single piece of paper can hold. Thank you.

[Elise Hu]

That was Myles Wu at play, a TED 2026 we've been experimenting with something different on the show called Curator's Corner. Throughout the year, you'll hear from ted's curators, the people who actually find and work with the speakers you hear on the show. They will share more about the idea you just heard and the behind the scenes of how the talk came to life. And now here's TED curator Chloe Shashaw Brooks, who shares a few more thoughts about Miles and what it was like working with one of the youngest speakers to ever take the TED stage.

[Chloe Shashaw Brooks]

Hi everyone. Thanks for listening to Miles wu's talk. I'm Chloe Sasha Brooks speaking to you from New York City. Before you go, I'm jumping in here to share some behind the scenes from this talk, more about who Miles is and why we shared this talk with you today. It is rare to meet a kid as humble, studious, attentive and kind as miles. At only 14 years old, he has the disposition of a focused and curious adult. One of the reasons I felt most excited about Miles is that he truly played his way into an innovation that is both beautiful to look at and potentially highly useful for a variety of needs down the line, including, as he mentioned, emergency shelters. One thing I keep thinking about is if Mura ori folds have existed for this long, how has nobody else ever tried to do this experiment? How unbelievably cool that it was a 14 year old who decided to try it at home with stacks of books and all kinds of random objects that weighed as much as possible in his parents New York City apartment. What feels distinct about Miles's innovation in this story is that he actually really did just follow his own interests in folding paper. And that's something that is unique to kids. Kids just do things because it's fun and cool and interesting to do. The more we allow kids to play, the more likely kids are to discover things. So I hope this opens up a world where more people are willing to let kids play. I hope you are as inspired by Miles as I am and that more kids like Miles grow up to be curious and problem solvers like he is.

[Elise Hu]

If you're curious about Ted's curation, visit Ted.comCurationGuidelines and that's it for today. Ted Talks Daily is a podcast from Ted. This episode was fact checked by the TED Research team and produced and edited by our team, Martha Estefanos, Oliver Friedman, Lucy Little, Emma Tobner, and Tanzika Sangarnivong. Additional support from Daniela Ballarezzo, Christopher Faizy Bogan, Valentina Bohanini, Banban Chang, Brian Greene and Lainey Lott. Learn [e-mail] I am Elise Hu. I'll be back tomorrow with a fresh idea for your feedback. Thanks for listening. This episode is brought to you by the world's leading ESIM brand, Airalo. When I travel, I don't want to just see a new place. I want to engage with it. It's often the small, unexpected moments that stay with us. The cafe you stumble into, the conversation you didn't plan for, the turn that leads somewhere surprising. Airalo makes it easier to stay connected to those moments. You can activate your ESIM and get online the moment you land. No swapping SIM cards, no searching for WI fi and no hidden fees. With unlimited data and reliable coverage through top local carriers, you can explore freely and use your phone the way you do at home. It's a simple way to stay connected so you can experience more of wherever you're traveling. To get unlimited data this [e-mail] that's a I R A L O this episode is sponsored by Peloton Good design has a way of solving problems you didn't know you had, like the mental overhead of planning a workout, deciding what to do, how many reps, whether your form is right. It's friction that pulls you out of the experience before you've even started. The Peloton Cross Training Tread plus, powered by Peloton iq, builds a workout roadmap that's completely yours, so you can stop overthinking and just move. It handles rep counting and form correction in real time, and builds weekly plans led by instructors who match your mood, vibe and personality. The only thing you have to think about is how good it feels to let go. And when you're ready to shift from a run to strength work, one spin of the swivel screen takes you there without losing momentum. The best solutions don't add complexity, they remove it. Let yourself run, lift, fail, try and go. Explore the new peloton cross training Tread [e-mail]

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