CREEPING DEVELOPMENTS
Disembodied Robot Hand Learns to Walk on Its Fingers in Swiss Laboratory
Researchers in Switzerland unveil a severed-looking mechanical hand that scuttles about on its own digits, just in time for the spooky season.
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND — A team of researchers in Switzerland has released details of a project that, by the account of UPI Odd News, is perfectly suited to the spooky season: a disembodied robot hand that uses its fingers to walk.
The report, published on October 30, 2026, is brief. It describes the creation as a hand without an arm or body attached, moving about by means of its own fingers. The URL of the article associates the work with ETH Zurich, though the short text provided does not elaborate on the institution's role.
The source material does not say how the hand is powered, how fast it travels, what it is intended to do, or whether it has been observed to climb furniture. Nor does it say whether the researchers intend to put it to practical use or whether its resemblance to a certain fictional haunted appendage was a deliberate design choice.
The article carries a notice inviting readers to watch a video of the device in motion. This newspaper has not independently viewed the footage and can offer no assurance as to the quality of its manners.
For the present, the hand is understood to be confined to the laboratory, and the researchers are said to have released details voluntarily. Readers of a nervous disposition are advised to keep their fingers crossed, though perhaps not too conspicuously.