microscopic
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Researchers 3D-printed a cell-sized tugboat
Physicists at Leiden University in the Netherlands have 3D printed the world’s smallest boat, a test object known as Benchy.
'Viva Ex Vivo' brings the microscopic world to your PS4
Are Fantastic Voyage and Innerspace some of your favorite movies? Do you rewatch Cosmos just to see the microbiology segments? If so, we have the game for you. Truant Pixel has unveiled Viva Ex Vivo, an exploration/survival hybrid for the PlayStation 4 that has you guiding a tiny probe through microscopic worlds like a glop of mud or a tissue sample. It's effectively a biology class writ large. You live or die based on your ability to find organic particles, and innocuous organisms like immune systems and tardigrades are suddenly massive threats. The game even generates mini ecosystems on the fly, so your success may hinge on your ability to understand where you're likely to find sustenance.
Scientists build atom-scale sub that moves at 'breakneck' speeds
There are still no nanobots plying our bloodstreams, seeking and destroying cancer and other diseases. However, scientists at Rice University have just built a molecule-scale "submarine," so that's a pretty positive step towards "Fantastic Voyage." Mades at the same lab that developed "nanocars," the devices are a mere 244 atoms in size, with motors powered by ultraviolet light that turn at over a million RPM. That propels them along at a solid one inch per second, which is a "breakneck" pace according to lab director James Tour. "These are the fastest-moving molecules ever seen in solution," he said.
Visualized: Nikon's Small World microscope photography contest winners
3D render? The latest submission to deviantART? No, that's a microscopic photo of the blood-brain barrier in a live zebrafish embryo taken by Dr. Jennifer Peters and Dr. Michael Taylor at 20X magnification, and it's the latest winner of Nikon's annual Small World Photomicrography Competition. Not surprisingly, the runners-up in the contest (drawn from some 2,000 submissions) are just as impressive -- hit the links below for a look at all of them. Those interested in having themselves featured next year (and taking home up to $3,000 in Nikon gear) have until April 30th to get their submissions in for the next competition.
France's ANDRA developing a million-year hard drive, we hope our badly-written blogs live in perpetuity
Us humans have been quick to embrace digital technology for preserving our memories, but we've forgotten that most of our storage won't last for more than a few decades; when a hard drive loses its magnetism or an optical disc rots, it's useless. French nuclear waste manager ANDRA wants to make sure that at least some information can survive even if humanity itself is gone -- a million or more years, to be exact. By using two fused disk platters made from sapphire with data written in a microscope-readable platinum, the agency hopes to have drives that will keep humming along short of a catastrophe. The current technology wouldn't hold reams of data -- about 80,000 minuscule pages' worth on two platters -- but it could be vital for ANDRA, which wants to warn successive generations (and species) of radioactivity that might last for eons. Even if the institution mostly has that pragmatic purpose in mind, though, it's acutely aware of the archeological role these €25,000 ($30,598) drives could serve once leaders settle on the final languages and below-ground locations at an unspecified point in the considerably nearer future. We're just crossing our fingers that our archived internet rants can survive when the inevitable bloody war wipes out humanity and the apes take over. [Image credit: SKB]
Beam-switching endows electron microscopes with 3D, added gross-out
Having haunted our curtailed childhoods with tiny, disgusting horrors, the scanning electron microscope is about to get a new lease of life in 3D. Researchers in Japan have figured out how to deflect the electron beam rapidly to give two slightly shifted views, so real-time 3D images can now been scoped on a monitor without even the need for eye-wear. Current gear can only muster flat images, so it's always been painfully slow for scientists to extract convexity and other details from objects. Though the 3D-version is lower-res than the old way, at least now all those slimy mandibles and egg sacs will be right there in your face. Nice.
IBM sees stacked silicon sitting in fluid as the way to power future PCs
Generally, the combination of microchips, electricity and fluids is usually considered an incredibly bad thing. IBM, however, thinks it can combine those three to make super small and super powerful computers in the future. The idea is to stack hundreds of silicon wafers and utilize dual fluidic networks between them to create 3D processors. In such a setup, one network carries in charged fluid to power the chip, while the second carries away the same fluid after it has picked up heat from the active transistors. Of course, 3D chips are already on the way, and liquid cooled components are nothing new, but powering a PC by fluids instead of wires has never been done before. Bruno Michel, who's leading Big Blue's research team, has high hopes for the technology, because future processors will need the extra cooling and reduced power consumption it can provide. Michel says he and his colleagues have demonstrated that it's possible to use a liquid to transfer power via a network of fluidic channels, and they to plan build a working prototype chip by 2014. If successful, your smartphone could eventually contain the power of the Watson supercomputer. Chop, chop, fellas, those futuristic fluidic networks aren't going to build themselves.
Galaxy S II and Galaxy S screens compared at the subpixel level (video)
One Galaxy S II review not enough for you? Hey, we understand, a dual-core phone deserves at least two goes through the Engadget test chambers. Today marks the publication of our Engadget Spanish analysis, which, among other things, compares the GSII against its forebear, the Galaxy S, at the subpixel level. Yes, we've got video capturing the improvement Samsung has made in its new Real-Stripe (RGB) pixel arrangement on the Galaxy S II's Super AMOLED Plus display over the older, less awesome PenTile RGBG layout of the Plus-deprived Super AMOLED panel. You can see it after the break or dive into the source link for a more comprehensive comparison. Non-Spanish speakers will want to jump to the 1:40 mark in the vid for all the microscopic action. %Gallery-124010%
World's tiniest video camera helps doctors see inside of you
The thought of an endoscope entering any orifice is an unpleasant one, even if it's so your doctor can diagnose what ails you. Good thing Medigus made the world's smallest video camera so those medical probes are a little less painful. It's .99mm in diameter -- making it a smidge smaller than previous peewee endoscopes -- and packs a .66mm x .66mm CMOS sensor to deliver video of your insides at 45,000 pixels worth of resolution. Best of all, the devices are disposable, so clean-up's a breeze. A reusable version is also available, but given where these things go, we're just fine with them being one use only. PR's after the break.
Researchers create microscopic disposable camera to see up in your guts
It's true, a team of researchers have created a one-cubic-millimeter throwaway camera, and if they have their way, it could be peeking inside you in the next year. The new tiny shooters, which sport a 250 x 250 pixel resolution, are created using a streamlined process in which the lens and sensor wafers are affixed before being cut into a series of 28,000 little cameras -- eliminating the need to mount and wire each one individually. This new mode of production cuts back on cost significantly, allowing physicians to throw away the little guys after routing around in your intestines. According to the camera's creators, their diminutive invention could make its way into your doctor's office as early as 2012.
Harvard University controls worm with laser, we wait for choreographed dance moves (video)
Researchers at Harvard University's Center For Brain Science have successful manipulated nematode C. elegans worms by genetically modifying a select few of their 302 neurons. Not to be confused with magnetically controlled invertebrate, these creepy-crawlies are controlled by the CoLBeRT system (a nod to the comedian but no other relation), controlling locomotion and behavior in real time. The scientists can manipulate movement of the worms, induce paralysis, and even cause them to lay eggs all by shining a laser that turns on and off the modified cells at will. The laser hits the worm and causes it to react as if it were being touched. According to the researchers, the reaction is similar to when light is shined in a human eye -- the protein found in the worm and eyes are sensitive to different variations of rays and will respond based on the color shined. Peep past the break for some squiggly mind- er, light-controlled action.
Microscopic Pac-Man installation makes a play for the smallest part of your heart
"Cute" doesn't even begin to accurately describe it. Kotoro "dotimpact" Tanaka, a Japanese design professor, has been credited with designing what may actually be the world's smallest game of Pac-Man. The microscopic installation was recently showcased at the 30th anniversary Pac-Man exhibition, utilizing original Pac-Man hardware, a projector and a microscope in order to blow up a minuscule game of cat and ghost for human eyes to recognize. We're told that it's able to reflect its image through a mirror in order to produce a 1cm square image at a resolution of 1439 pixels per inch (PPI), and users are highly encouraged to screw with the zoom and focus controls in order to heighten the level of difficulty. So, dotimpact... how's about an on sale date?
Duke micro-bots learning to dance, probe cellular architectures
We won't even front: Duke's quasi-invisibility cloak is far cooler than this, but a team of microscopic robots sure have the potential to do more good than a glorified figment of someone's imagination. Bruce Donald, a Duke professor of computer science and biochemistry, has teamed up with a few other mad scientists in order to create ridiculously tiny robots that can dance on objects smaller than a pin's head. According to Mr. Donald, they are "almost 100 times smaller than any previous robotic designs of their kind and weigh even less." Sure, watching these critters do the tango is undoubtedly entertaining, but he's hoping to collaborate with the medical center in order to "probe the molecular and cellular architectures of very small things such as cells." We appreciate the dedication to mankind and all, but don't pretend like you don't goof off with these guys on your coffee breaks, Bruce.[Via Slashdot]
Nextreme crafts thermoelectric module for microscopic cooling
It's been a tick since anyone 'round these parts has taken Peltier cooling seriously, but sure enough, North Carolina-based Nextreme Thermal Solutions is giving us reason to spark that conversation up once more. Its Ultra-High Packing Fraction (UPF) OptoCooler module utilizes "thin-film thermal bump technology at its core," essentially enabling it to be "integrated directly into electronic and optoelectronic packaging to deliver more than 45°C of cooling." Initially, the outfit hopes to have its product embedded within LED packages to "control temperatures and maintain proper operating conditions," and while we'd certainly be more awestruck if these were headed straight for microprocessors of some sort, we've all ideas Nextreme's already working on that endeavor.[Via Slashdot]
Microscopic robots get their game on at RoboCup
Sure, witnessing the robotic incarnation of Ronaldo totally school his opponent and whip a game winner into the back corner of the net is quite impressive, but watching a nanoscale iteration attempt to do the same demands a slightly smaller (figuratively speaking, of course) level of respect for the creators. A total of five teams from North America and Switzerland built microscopic competitors that were around "six times smaller than an amoeba and weighed no more than a few hundred nanograms." The wee devices showed their stuff in the oh-so-fascinating Nano Cup soccer match, which had to be projected onto a screen in order for anyone to actually take a look at the action. Notably, several teams made mention of these diminutive creatures eventually ending up in various locales within the body, but we're sure the hardcore athletes were more focused on the final score than any future endeavours in the medical realm.
NC State researchers devise new ways to invade your bloodstream
While schools in the ACC are certainly making noise on the hardwood, it seems that the Atlantic Coast Conference is also interested in shoving microbots all around your innards. Just days after a team from Georgia Tech envisioned a new internal method for monitoring blood pressure, research conducted at NC State is hoping to cram even more robotic creatures into deep, dark places within your body. A team led by Orlin Velev has discovered that "a simple electronic diode" could spark a new form of propulsion which could power robots and other diminutive devices from a distance. By exploiting "a phenomenon known as electro-osmosis," the diodes can push microscopic material through internal fluids "at speeds of several millimeters per second," which could allow cameras and medicines to reach critical locales that are presently isolated. Of course, there's still a good bit of work to be done, as the prototype device still has become substantially smaller before it will even fit in most of the tiny tubes within your skin, but it's looking more and more like we'll have nursebots shoving spinoffs of themselves into our beings before too long.[Via NewScientistTech]
Edinburgh scientists craft microscopic nanomachines
There's apparently a good bit of conflict at the University of Edinburgh, as we've got one esteemed fellow claiming that nanotech products are potentially dangerous, and now we've got a professor of chemistry insinuating that his nanomachines can change the world. Regardless of their personal differences, David Leigh has borrowed an idea from 1867 in crafting "a minuscule motor that could lead to the creation of microscopic nanomachines," and while he credits the "Maxwell's Demon" as its inspiration, he hopes these plans will actually lead to something substantial. The bantam motor is entirely solar-powered, and has been "devised to trap molecules as they move in a certain direction under their natural motion." Preliminary tests have shown a nanomachine moving a drop of water uphill by using molecular force, which gives researchers hope that this discovery will allow these diminutive machines to "do things that are much closer to what biological machines do." Of course, even Mr. Leigh admits that predicting just how this can or will effect society is difficult, but considering that he's aiming to to bring things that "could happen in a Harry Potter film" to fruition, we won't count him out just yet.
Brass dice shrunk to nearly invisible scale
You know, it's really, really hard to write a post about dice without making that World Series Of Dice reference (clikkityclikkityclack! and all that), so we'll save it, but damn if those ain't some small dice. Iriso Seimetsu Co., Ltd.'s gone and created some 300 micron wide machined-brass dice, measuring a scant 0.027mm³, or 0.3 x 0.3 x 0.3mm. The price for knowing you too can jump in on some lilliputian back alley binge drinking dice throwing? For you, kid, ¥100,275 (about $865 US), but do keep in mind these puny tools of chance take 9 hours to make -- that and they'll throw in a special case for carrying 'em around in. Microscopic brass knuckles for enforcing those gambling bets not included, and don't even think about wrapping these around your rear view.[Via Pink Tentacle]
