A mountain of rubble hiding flattened homes. (Photos: Shutterstock; HT Imaging: Puneet Kumar) A roaring inferno sweeping through a forest. Wailing sirens mingling with cries for help. And people, armed and ready, rushing into the flames. This could be the wildfires of California, 2024. The tsunami-hit city of Alexandria in 4th century CE Egypt. Or the cities of Mandalay and Sagaing last year, after the 7.7-magnitude earthquake in Myanmar. Across history, catastrophe has been one of humanity’s constants. As the earth heaved and storms swept through settlements, humans learnt to rely on people who charge towards the chaos when everyone else is running the other way; dig through debris; row into a flooded and silent city, carrying supplies and medicines and looking for signs of life. For centuries, a certain kind of person has signed up for this role. Now, the world of these first-responders is changing. As storms, heatwaves, wildfires, floods and cold snaps intensify and become more frequent, new technology is emerging to help them on the ground: slinky robots that can slither …