
Our best parallel now would be closer to using two dozen R/C cars, controlled by a tiny remote brain, to swarm through the maze. Although our most sophisticated nanomachines are still not yet ready to navigate your blood stream, Japanese researchers have recently come one step closer by
inventing a nanotech "brain." The device, comprised of seventeen molecules of the chemical duroquinone, is arranged as a ring of sixteen, with one in the middle, all connected by chemical bonds. By manipulating the state of the middle molecule with a scanning tunneling microscope, the scientists were able to make the ring of sixteen simultaneously follow suit.
While the brain is very much in its early stages, the work is a an important step towards nanomachines playing a role in medicine. The one-to-many concept is critical to robotic control and has the potential for applications in future generations of computing.
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from los gatos, ca
[let's not forget that 'innerspace' was a remake of 'fantastic voyage' w/ raquel welch 40some odd years ago]...it's a very viable concept now that we can swallow hubble telescopes the size of a vitamin pill to film our innards...