India, March 22 -- It looks like a cross between a balloon animal and a firefighter's water hose. It's an inflatable tube, controlled via joystick, that can be sent into rubble through a narrow crack, from where it can squeeze through small spaces and bend around corners. One end of the tube features a camera and sensors that give operators access to a live feed. The Soft Pathfinding Robotic Observation Unit, or SPROUT, created by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT's) Lincoln Laboratory, could be a leap forward in rescue operations at collapsed structures. Existing robots have been in use since the early Aughts. They help identify heat signatures; deliver food, water and medicine; and offer views of what lies beneath the rubble....