A NanoFly On The Wall

I got an email from an importer yesterday discussing some new technologies in electronic equipment. The back of my head says it could be because this importer of very well known Hi-Fi, professional audio and video equipment knows something... something to ponder no doubt.

The article was about the construction of incredibly small circuits of components on flexible plastic put there by an Ink Jet printer and using the new technology of carbon nanotubes. [These one atom thick sheets of graphite are rolled into cylinders and possess some very fascinating electrical properties.] more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanotubes

source: http://nanotechweb.org/cws/article/tech/31378

"Ink-jet printing is one of the most promising techniques for making large area, inexpensive plastic electronics on which a range of electronic components can be printed. These include transistor circuits, photovoltaic films, organic light-emitting diodes and photovoltaic films...."

The physical size of electronic devices is suddenly drastically reduced...



In the news yesterday was a couple of interesting articles relating to miniaturization of electronics... and perhaps something to keep an eye on.

source: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/10/12/1191696173795.html

“American researchers are breeding moths that can be steered by radio control. Next they may attempt to develop tiny cameras and sensors light enough to be fitted to the bugs……. The researchers created the radio-controlled insects by injecting computer chips into the larvae of giant hawk moths. When the larvae turn into moths the chips, activated by remote control, stimulate the flight muscles, allowing the bugs to be steered on the wing”

Of course this method isn’t particularly refined yet and is only in experimentation stages… or is it?

Source: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/10/11/1191696075903.html

“VANESSA ALARCON saw them at an antiwar rally in Lafayette Square in Washington last month.

"I heard someone say: 'Oh my dog, look at those'," the university student recalled. "I look up and I'm like, 'What the hell is that?' They looked kind of like dragonflies or little helicopters. But those are not insects."

Bernard Crane saw them, too. "I'd never seen anything like it in my life," the Washington lawyer said. "I thought: 'Is that mechanical, or is that alive?' "

That is just one of the questions hovering over a handful of similar sightings at political events in Washington and New York….”

And of course

“No agency admits to having deployed insect-size spy drones, though several US Government departments say they are trying. But several federally funded teams are growing live insects with computer chips in them, with the aim of mounting spyware on their bodies.”

Interestingly

“Pentagon documents describe nearly 100 different models of robotic fliers in use today, some as tiny as birds, and some the size of small planes. The nation's fleet of flying robots logged more than 160,000 flight hours last year - a fourfold increase since 2003.”

"America can be pretty sneaky," said Tom Ehrhard, a retired air force colonel and expert in unmanned aerial vehicles… "

Hmmmmmmm...