nanobots
Gadgets
1:35,000 Scale Working Model Train Might Be The World’s Smallest
6:02AM Sean Fallon | David Smith believes he has build the world’s smallest working train, and based on the images and video I wouldn’t doubt that claim. Apparently, it is 35,000 times smaller than the real deal. More »
Science
Nanobot Uses Bacteria Swarm for Propulsion
12:00AM Mark Wilson | Canadian researcher Sylvain Martel has developed a ultra tiny machine that can be propelled and steered through a swarm of 3,000 bacteria. More »
Science
Flying Nanobot Gives Wings to Imminent Grey Goo Doomsday Scenario
5:00AM Jack Loftus | Researchers at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, seemingly oblivious to the fact that technology is exponentially outpacing our ability to keep up with it, have created a new breed of levitating nano-machines. More »
Robots
Robotic Insects Could Build Human Habitats on Mars Before We Arrive
6:00AM Kit Eaton | Move over bristlebot: Europe’s I-SWARM program is developing some similarly small but much smarter micro ‘bots that could be used to build human colonies on Mars. The tiny machines would be dispersed in huge numbers, working automatically and independently, and also collaborating together to form larger compound ‘bots able to do physical stuff like moving rocks out of the way. More »
Science
Researchers Begin Work on Building Real Life (Microscopic) Transformers
1:00AM Haroon Malik | Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have begun work on creating tiny groups of robots that utilise electromagnetic forces to alter their shape and function. Ultimately, the team hopes to build a large number of microscopic robots that are able to metamorphose into any conceivable shape. This would be done by applying a charge to the nanobots, which would form different structures based on how, or where, that charge is applied. The concept is not too dissimilar to the material that was shown to be used for Batman’s cape in Batman Begins. That similarity makes this research instantly awesome. More »
Robots
Sperm Could Be the Slave Drivers of the Nanobot Future
10:30AM Sean Fallon | Scientists are investigating the possibility of using the “tiny assembly line that powers the whip-like tail of sperm” to send medical nanobots racing throughout the body. In order to work, these devices would have to be made from biomedical components —and at that size, “biology would provide the best functional motors.” This approach seems bizarre, but apparently it could help solve the problem of supplying energy to thousands of minuscule internal devices that can fight or ward off disease. How long it will be before these spermbot slave drivers become a reality is anyone’s guess. [MSNBC] More »
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