Video: Nanosoccer... Oh. My. God.
[via Medgadget]
nanobot posts
[via Medgadget]
Researchers create a nanobot-controlling "brain"
Our inevitable incorporation into the gray goo inches ever closer today, as researchers in Japan have developed a chemical brain that can control up to eight nanomachines -- and one day could control thousands. The "brain" is actually a ring of 17 duroquinone molecules, which together measure just two nanometers across. Each molecule can be rotated to four different positions, controlled by the state of the center molecule. In tests, researchers were able to simultaneously control eight nanomachines using the brain, compelling them to dock and undock from the brain. The structure of the brain also means up to 4 billion possible configurations can be switched simply by manipulating one molecule, which may eventually give rise to computing applications -- but those are limited for now, since issuing instructions involves the use of scanning tunnel microscopy. That's a relief -- gray was never really our color anyway.British prof warns nanotech products are potentially dangerous
While we're eagerly awaiting the day that we
can lounge around while armies of nanobots perform
their magical alchemy on our garbage and turn it into hot cellphones and delicious Big Macs, one British scientist is
warning that the medical implications of nanotechnology have yet to be properly explored, despite numerous products
already finding their way to market. Specifically, Edinburgh University Professor and
environmental health expert Anthony Seaton argues that almost nothing is known about the potential effect of inhaling
nanoparticles, likening the situation to the dangerous particle-emitting asbestos that was installed in buildings prior
to 1970 without a second thought. According to some estimates, there are already 200 products containing nanoparticles
available to consumers, with hundreds more expected to hit shelves this year -- but Seaton claims that so far,
recommended nano testing "simply hasn't happened." Damn, way to ruin our nanobot fantasies, Professor
Letdown.
