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posted by chromas on Tuesday September 11 2018, @01:23AM   Printer-friendly
from the nanomachines,-son! dept.

Hong Kong scientists develop new 'nano-swarm' robots

A groundbreaking new method of controlling nano-robots that emulates natural swarm behavior has been developed by scientists in Hong Kong, the first step in what is hoped could lead to a major medical advancement in the treatment of blood clots.

[...] Led by Associate Professor Li Zhang, a team of scientists from the Chinese University of Hong Kong designed and implemented a strategy of using oscillating magnetic fields to create highly reconfigurable ribbon-like swarms of nano-robots, millions of magnetic nanoparticles each less than one micron wide, or one-fifth the length of a red blood cell.

As programmers tune the applied magnetic fields, the "micro-swarm" of nano-robots is capable of performing a wide range of structural changes, including extending, shrinking, splitting, and merging, all with a high degree of accuracy.

[...] It is hoped surgeons could manipulate the nano-robots to pass through highly compact spaces within organs and blood vessels, allowing the nano-robots to resolve blood clots and assist with targeted drug delivery to cells.

Nature article includes ten supplementary movies:

Ultra-extensible ribbon-like magnetic microswarm (open, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-05749-6) (DX)


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  • (Score: 0, Offtopic) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Tuesday September 11 2018, @02:08AM (2 children)

    by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Tuesday September 11 2018, @02:08AM (#733008) Homepage Journal

    a man can't get blown around here

    paid ten bucks for admission to a porno theater sex club, almost immediately some guy starts to suck me off then says something like "excuse me", gets up and leaves

    I entertained myself for well over an hour in hopes he would return

    Finally got tired, didn't want to waste my spooge on a paper towel - I may be a dirty old man but at least I am a considerate dirty old man - so I put all my clothes back on then stepped across the street for a spot of tea

    --
    Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
    • (Score: 0, Flamebait) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Tuesday September 11 2018, @02:08AM

      by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Tuesday September 11 2018, @02:08AM (#733010) Homepage Journal

      It's not like you sorry lot don't know I'm bisexual but there is a certain lady to whom I am yet to come out.

      --
      Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
    • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 11 2018, @03:13AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 11 2018, @03:13AM (#733036)

      ^^ Pointless bile from a Soylent regular.
      If there are a lot of people like you, no wonder so many don't have friends...

  • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday September 11 2018, @10:22AM (1 child)

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday September 11 2018, @10:22AM (#733094) Journal

    All I can see are some non-differentiated nano-particles, no evident structure, so where exactly is the 'bot' side of those nano-thingies?

    Will we start to call 'microbots swarm' a fistful of dust, only because it may abrade away the dead cells when massaged over the skin?

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 11 2018, @06:11PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 11 2018, @06:11PM (#733231)

      Damn, I already wanted to say PREY, but you ruined it.

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