The deep sea is one of the most mysterious places on Earth, less accurately mapped than even Mars. Many robots and remotely operated vehicles have been sent down to explore the deepest known parts of the ocean, the Mariana Trench and Challenger Deep. However, previous deep ocean robots were too big and bulky, making maneuvering through unknown territory nearly impossible. This changed in 2021; a Chinese robotics team, led by Guorui Li of Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, sought to apply soft robotics to deep sea exploration. The team’s soft robot was based on the Mariana hadal snailfish, a creature native to the Mariana Trench. The team mimicked the snailfish by creating a more flexible “skull,” able to withstand crushing pressures and by incorporating fins so that the robot could move more freely. After preliminary testing, the robot was sent to explore the Mariana Trench while attached to a deep sea lander, a mission it returned from with great success. Although the soft robot was slow and weak against currents, its navigability, small size, and deep diving prowess were a big step forward in biologically inspired robotics and deep sea exploration.