Article updated: 12/9/2012 6:56 AM

New fans in origami fold

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Origami artist Beth Johnson designed these origami bears folded from a single sheet of paper with cuts or glue.

Courtesy of Beth Johnson

An origami model of an alligator designed by Micheal G. LaFosse is 18 inches long.

Courtesy of Origamido

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Sara Goheen, a junior at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, often folds place mats or straw wrappers into interesting shapes while she's waiting at a restaurant for the food to arrive. “It's super satisfying to see a flat piece of paper turn into something — whether it's a rhino or a star,” Goheen said of her passion for origami. Origami, which began hundreds of years ago in Japan, has in recent decades attracted the attention of artists, scientists and mathematicians, said Vanessa Gould, director of the 2010 documentary “Between the Folds.”