Posted on 06/10/2005 5:57:16 AM PDT by Momaw Nadon
TINY robots that can turn into any shape - from a replica human to a banana to a mobile phone - are being developed by scientists in the United States.
The new science of claytronics, which will use nanotechnology to create tiny robots called catoms, should enable three-dimensional copies of people to be "faxed" around the world for virtual meetings.
A doctor could also consult with a patient over the phone, even taking their pulse by holding the wrist of the claytronic replica, reports New Scientist.
And the nano "clay" could be carried around, shape-shifting into virtually anything when required. Your claytronic mobile phone could turn into a hammer for a spot of DIY and then a pair of shoes to go jogging. The creator, Dr Todd Mowry, director of Intel's research labs in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, said: "You could have a little lump of this stuff you carry around and it could be a million different things. It's like the world's ultimate Swiss army knife." His partner, Dr Seth Goldstein, of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, said: "It's absolutely going to work."
Intel's robotics expert, Jason Campbell, added: "The more you look at it, the more likely it seems we will be able to manufacture these things.
"I think there's a good chance we'll get to see it. Now whether that's five or 20 years, I don't know."
However, progress been slow. So far, the group has been able to get four catoms - or claytronic atoms - to act together, but at more than 4cm in diameter, they are considerably larger than the nano-sized robots required to make the clay.
But the problem of power supply has been solved. It has to be external, as the nanorobots would be too small to carry their own power pack.
Dr Goldstein is now working on designs for catoms about the size of a marbles and expects to be able to achieve some interesting behaviour when hundreds of these are combined.
"That'll be a huge step forward," he said.
Their only failure has been their "claytronic" Hillary Clinton. No matter how much they tried they could not get it to actually become conservative. Or, even moderate.
Now when they get a clay copy of Jenna Jamison . . . there's a killer app if I've ever seen one.
Can you make that picture a little bit bigger? It's hard for me to see... :0)
A song comes to mind first......."He took a hundred pounds of clay, then he said,........"
Always the first application of any new technology...
I think someone watched 'Timeline' a few too many times if this is the use they are thinking of. Undoubtably lots of interesting possibilities, but short of the Jenna Jamison comment, I don't see any money being made in clay humans.
It was probably too lifelike and spoke with too much human intonation.
Shades of Blade Runner. Just one question: Will these replicas be able to pass a Voight-Kampff Test?
Oh No, Mr Bill!
I'd rather they called them cantoms ("When you can't, um, be there, send a cantom!") but nobody asked Madison Avenue before they named it, now did they?
Does it at least rhyme with "atom?"
Why am I thinking it's going to clog our washing machines and vacuum cleaners? Never mind our watches and computers.
Could be a boon for mascara manufacturers though. Nano clay sounds like a real good mascara ingredient.
Yep. I'm calling my broker.
LOL.... oops.
If this technology is developed to the extent described in the article what jobs would be left? If everyone had their hundred or so pounds of 'make anything' clay that could be put to any purpose....it kind of scares me.
LOL Sounds like a bad sci-fi movie.
This sounds a lot like the beginnings of 'wellstone' from Wil McCarthy's "Collapsium" series.
Programmable matter.
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