I’m a keen reader of science/technology articles that really do introduce new concepts. Not quite “paradigm shifts” in teh classic sense but certainly ideas that make you think a bit. One of those concepts I read about a few years ago is “smart dust”. The idea was that you spread these literally dust-sized particles over a field and each one is clever enough to send back some simple sensor readings to its nearest neighbour.
Imagine that then. A plan flies over a field and drops a load of particles each capable of saying if they have a big metal object nearby. Collate that information from a remote location and you’ve just found the enemy tank advance.
Thankfully though, NASA has other ideas. In a recent BBC news item they predict how this stuff can be used to investigate otehr planets. The most interesting thing though is that they have modelled how this stuff can be made to “fly” through the air taking on different shapes. Various doomsayers have predicted that when nanotechnology takes off it will turn the world into grey goo. (Micaheal Crichton also wrote a novel on that theme called “Prey” but I haven’t read it). But to be honest, I’ll be more curious about the dust in the air around me.
Next time you empty the vacuum cleaner listen for the little voices of all that dust chattering with itself and deploring your taste in curtain material.
