🚨NANNOBOTS & 5G / SMARTDUST / SMART CITIES🚨
TECH CULTURE
The Last Mile to Civilization 2.0: Technologies From Our Not Too Distant Future
By Jay Stanley on December 13, 2017
Nanobots, Smart Dust, 5G Wireless and Smart Cities
Nanobots, Neural Dust & Smart Dust
Bio-hybrid DNA bots and other creepy crawlies
Often depicted as mini metallic spaceships in science fiction, most of today's nanobots are actually
created from algae, bacteria, DNA and other organisms already occurring in nature. Scientists and
engineers discovered long ago that piggybacking on nature by controlling a biological organism is
easier than building one from scratch with the same dexterity (see: cyborg roaches, beetles &
dragonflies)
These types of 'nanobots' are currently being used in humans to target cancerous tumors and can be
remote controlled with magnetic pulses or ultrasound after being injected into the bloodstream near
the targeted area (usually in oxygen-depleted zones) carrying some sort of drug payload.
Key examples of these technologies:
Magneto-aerotactic bacteria nanobots - "...new nanorobotic agents capable of navigating through
the bloodstream to administer a drug with precision by specifically targeting the active cancerous
cells of tumours... 'These legions of nanorobotic agents were actually composed of more than 100
million flagellated bacteria -- and therefore self-propelled -- and loaded with drugs that are moved
by taking the most direct path between the drug's injection point and the area of the body to
cure.'..."
Algal-based nanobots - Another remote-controlled, biodegradable, cancer-killing nanobot, this time
made from spirulina algae with fluorescent and magnetic properties for tracking and controlling it to
remote areas of the body.
DNA-based nanobots - Made of DNA, this creation is capable of performing nanomechanical tasks
such as finding, carrying and sorting molecular cargo like chemicals by using their nucleotide arms,
hands, legs and feet to perform tasks and move around. They're smart enough to work alongside
other bots in the same area without interfering with their tasks and it could be used to deliver
medicines throughout the body, transport gene editing tools or for other programmable
therapeutics.
Bio-based solutions represent a bulk of the nanotech in this category and scientists believe that
these types of bots could eventually be programmed with as much detail as full sized mechanized
robots.
However, researchers are also exploring nanobots made with electronics, such as 'neural dust,'
which is perhaps best described as a Fitbit for the nervous system. Created from CMOS
circuits/sensors, neural dust uses ultrasound to power a 3mm-wide implant that can wirelessly track
and transmit real-time data from nerves, organs and muscles.
Development of neural dust took rise with funding from DARPA and a 2013 UC Berkeley paper (PDF)
titled "Neural Dust: An Ultrasonic, Low Power Solution" conceptualizes a mature version of the
technology, which could be used to create an implantable brain-machine interface with ultrasonic
sensors that can stimulate specific brain areas.
Our bodies are quite permeable by ultrasound and DARPA envisions that ultrasonically powered
brain implants with biosensors may one day be used to monitor health and regulate bodily functions
ranging from bladder control to the movement of prosthetic limbs, eventually enabling 'self-healing'
of the body and mind through so-called 'electroceuticals'.
Before neural dust, DARPA financed research through Berkeley in 1998 to create 'smart dust' --
technically known as 'microelectromechanical sensors' (MEMS) -- which is essentially an IoT device
that can be placed anywhere in the environment to wirelessly monitor changes such as light,
vibrations, temperature, humidity, magnetism or chemical signatures, acting as nerve-endings in an
ad-hoc distributed network that provides full-spectrum intelligence.
5G: Enabling 'Massive IoT' and Smart Cities
Wireless virtual reality for your sm
