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AEROSOLS FOR GOOD. You may have ripped spray cans in the '90s when everyone was talking about the hole in the ozone layer, but a team of MIT researchers found use for aerosols that might be good for the environment. and our health. This spray contains nanobots, tiny sensors capable of doing everything from detecting dangerous leaks in pipelines to diagnosing health problems. They published their research in Nature Nanotechnology on Monday.
NANO-SCALE SENSORS. Each sensor in the aerosol spray contains two parts. The first is an extremely minute colloid, particle or insoluble molecule. The colloids are so small that they can remain indefinitely suspended in a liquid or in the air – the strength of the particles that stick around them is stronger than the force of gravity that tries to shoot them down.
The second part of the sensor is a complex circuit containing a chemical detector constructed from a two-dimensional material, such as graphene. When this detector encounters a certain chemical in its environment, its ability to conduct electricity improves. The circuit also contains a photodiode, a device that can convert ambient light into electrical current. This provides all the electricity needed to power the data collection and circuit memory.
Researchers grafted their circuits on colloids, giving them the ability to travel in unique environments. When combined, the researchers aerosolized the nanobots (converted to a sprayable form). This method of delivery would not be possible without the addition of the colloid. "[The circuits] can not exist without substrate," said lead author of the study, Michael Strano, in a press release. "We need to graft them to the particles to give them mechanical rigidity and make them big enough to be dragged into the stream."
TWO TYPES OF PIPELINES. The MIT team sees a number of potential diagnostic uses for their microscopic, sprayable sensors, demonstrating a couple in their study. As an example, they designed their sensors to detect toxic chemical ammonia and then tested its ability in a sealed section of the pipe. They sprayed the sensors into one side of a pipe and then collected them at the other end using a piece of gauze. When they were looking at the sensors, they could say that they would come into contact with ammonia based on the information stored in the sensor memory
In the real world, this could prevent inspectors Having to manually look at an entire length. of pipe from the outside. Instead, they could simply let the aerosol run the length of the pipeline, then look in their memory for any data that might signal a problem, such as an encounter with an outside chemical that should not be in the pipeline
. The MIT team noted in the news release, that this technology could help diagnose problems in the human body, for example, by traveling along our digestive tract, collecting data and pbading it on to medical experts. "We see this document as the introduction of a new field [in robotics]," said Strano
READ MORE: Cell-size robots can understand their environment [ MIT News ]
More about nanobots: Kurzweil: From here 2030, nanobots will circulate in our bodies
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