Science a GoGo's Home Page Forums General Discussion General Science Discussion Forum Microrobots can clear blocked arteries.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/21/nrobot121.xml

"A microscopic robot small enough to travel through blood vessels has been built by scientists.

"Less than a millimetre in size, the robot walks like a crab on six legs and has been designed to clear blocked arteries."

A number of things I find interesting about this article, not the least of which is the fact that they're powered by the glucose in the blood.

Nanotechnology, here we come! It sounds like a dream come true, a regular roto-rooter for the arteries. Now if it holds up in clinical trials. One more item in the armamentarium of Science against heart disease.

Ah, yes, this is how they're going to secretly implant us all with RFID tags. Join the dots!

What is an RFID tag? Would this be a bad thing? Why?

RFID = Radio Frequency IDentification. Many places use them for equipment/product tracking. They're also used to track pets. There's a huge ethical/policy issue with their use right now that is too detailed to get into in the current thread. Suffice it to say there are huge benefits (mainly corporate profits, but also a lot of real benefits to society); however, it really is getting to the big brother stage. It's staggering the amount of information that corporations actually have on each of us as individuals.

Thanks, FF, for the explanation. Are these chips readable by satellite, or do you have to have a special device to read them? I'm wondering how they can be used to track pets.

To my knowledge they are not tracked by satellites, but are read by special scanners requiring close proximity - inches to yards, perhaps.

" I'm wondering how they can be used to track pets. "
My explanation was not clear. They don't track pets. Instead, they insert a chip encased in plastic into your dogs withers (the area between the shoulder blades). See item 6 in this diagram: http://www.m-w.com/art/dict/horse.htm . If your dog is lost and then found or turned into the dog pound, the pound (or any vet, I presume) can scan the chip and call you up to come get your pet.

Oh. Thanks for the clarification.

Microbots powered by glucose. "A diabetics nightmare?"