SylvainMartel

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  • Microbot controls swarm of bacteria, puts all flea circuses to shame

    by 
    Ross Miller
    Ross Miller
    05.17.2009

    Sylvain Martel, what hast thou sown? The director of the NanoRobotics Laboratory at the École Polytechnique de Montréal this week is presenting his latest microbot at ICRA in Japan, and it's got a pretty crazy trick. The solar panel-equipped device sizes up to about 300 x 300 microns, and using a sensor to detect nearby pH levels, it's been shown as capable of controlling a swarm of 3,000 bacteria using electromagnetic pulses. Sure, Martel suggests there'll be some eventual medical uses for the technology, but we'd be lying if we said the video demonstration didn't give us the willies. See for yourself in the video linked below. Read - Announcement Read - Video