Nanobots are officially one step closer to taking over the world. Scientists have created a tiny chemical “brain” which will some day be able to guide swarms of nano-machines.

The nano-brain is made of 17 duroquinone molecules and measures a measly two billionths of a meter across. It was able to control eight microscopic machines simultaneously in tests.

Scientists have high hopes for using nanobots in medicine and Dr. Anirban Bandyopadhyay, creator of this nano-brain, believes that his device may one day offer a solution for steering them through a body.

“That kind of device simply did not exist; this is the first time we have created a nano-brain,” he said.

The nano-brains are essentially molecular CPUs, currently capable of processing 16 bits of information simultaneously. Researchers say that they have already built faster machines, capable of 256 and 1024 operations.

Currently their functions are very limited, but eventually they could be used for a variety of tasks. Nanobots have huge potential to help us, and they seem more useful than ever now that we can control them.

Nokia has recently announced their Morph concept, a gadget which should (in about 100 years) replace everything you carry in your pocket today.

Featured in The Museum of Modern Art “Design and The Elastic Mind” exhibition, the Morph aims to be the only gadget you’ll ever need due to its adaptable nature. Made of flexible and transparent materials, Nokia imagines this gadget taking on just about any shape and size.

For example, it can start in the shape of a cell phone, but then unfold into a screen to view movies and other media on. This larger screen would incorporate input devices such as keyboards and touch pads as well to allow for communication. It could then be folded up into a bracelet that you wear on your wrist. As Nokia says, the Morph would “allow us to communicate and interact in unprecedented ways.”

Read more »

Italian car designer Leonardo Fioravanti (of Pininfarina fame) has developed a prototype car with a windshield that doesn’t need wipers. It can brush away water and dirt all by itself.

The car, dubbed Hidra, uses a special aerodynamic design along with four sophisticated surface treatments to the windshield to keep the driver’s view clear. The first treatment filters the sun and repels water. The second is made of nano-dust which is able to push dirt to the edges of the glass. This dust is activated by the third layer, which senses dirt and activates the second layer as necessary. Finally, it’s all topped off by the fourth layer which is a conductor of electricity to power the whole mechanism.

Fioravanti claims that this technology could go into mass production within 5 years, but it already works and has been installed on the Hidra concept car.

Details are still scant, but we wonder how well this technology would work on today’s cars. Hopefully windshield wipers disappear soon. Personally, I hate those things.

Here is a Google translation of the article.

Researchers at the University of Washington have created a biologically safe contact lens with an imprinted electronic circuit and lights. They are hoping that this technology will be used in the future to create virtual HUDs (Heads Up Displays) superimposed on the real life images our eyes see.

These can be used to project information while driving, for completely immersive virtual reality games, and for displaying a virtual web browser that only the wearer can see. The lenses could also be used to correct vision and even zoom in and out of the world around us.

The researchers tested these lenses on rabbits for up to 20 minutes without any adverse effects.

The next step? Adding wireless communication to and from the lens and implementing some sort of power system using radio-frequency and/or solar cells.

Let’s hope they perfect these things soon. I, for one, am excited to be able to surf the web during lecture without anyone spying on me.