The speedy leaps happen after spores get soaked; when the elaters dry out they can unfurl so suddenly that a 50-micrometer spore jumps as high as a centimeter. Spores in motion have inspired Marmottant and his colleagues to start developing a robot that moves like a horsetail spore. TINY DANCER A slow-motion video shows horsetail spores unfurling their ribbonlike elaters for small position changes, epic jumps and group scuttling.