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Smallest-Ever Human-Made Flying Structure Is A Winged Microchip, Scientists Say
It's neither a bird nor a plane, but a winged microchip as small as a grain of sand that can be carried by the wind as it monitors such things as pollution levels or the spread of airborne diseases.
The tiny microfliers, whose development by engineers at Northwestern University was detailed in an article published by Nature this week, are being billed as the smallest-ever human-made flying structures.
The devices don't have a motor; engineers were instead inspired by the maple tree's free-falling propeller seeds — technically known as samara fruit. The engineers optimized the aerodynamics of the microfliers so that "as these structures fall through the air, the interaction between the air and those wings cause a rotational motion that creates a very stable, slow-falling velocity," said John A. Rogers, who led the development of the devices.
[...] The wind would scatter the tiny microchips, which could sense their surrounding environments and collect information. The scientists say they could potentially be used to monitor for contamination, surveil populations or even track diseases.
Three-dimensional electronic microfliers inspired by wind-dispersed seeds
Journal Reference:
Bong Hoon Kim, Kan Li, Jin-Tae Kim, et al. Three-dimensional electronic microfliers inspired by wind-dispersed seeds, Nature (DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03847-y)
(Score: 2) by shortscreen on Friday September 24 2021, @03:49AM (4 children)
So they're just going to come right out and say it? Not "it's for finding lost pets" or "it's for monitoring traffic conditions" or even "we'll sell the data to advertisers"?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 24 2021, @03:56AM
Hey, gotta get funding somehow.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 24 2021, @05:49AM
Schizos gonna be on microchip watch
(Score: 2) by stretch611 on Friday September 24 2021, @05:36PM (1 child)
...and that is why Bill Gates is putting 5g chips in the vaccine. :P
At least my cell phone reception has never been better.
Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 25 2021, @01:36AM
Why the outdated delusion that it is YOUR cell phone?