SCI/TECH: The New Military: Microbots

dsc.discovery.com
"Nanotech researchers have built tiny self-assembling machines that even grow their own muscles from cells taken from living animals.

Besides just blurring the line between organism and machine, the first of these nano-bio-bots may signal a breakthrough in how to mass produce bio-machines: The hybrid devices were grown on silicon chips using the same principles and some of the same technology employed to make integrated circuits.

"I can make hundreds of thousands as easily as I can make one," said lead nanotechnology researcher Carlo Montemagno of the University of California, Los Angeles.

"It's really a phenomenal thing," said George Bachand, a nanotech biologist at Sandia National Laboratory... "It's really a fully integrated system," he said of the blend of biological and mechanical parts.

The success with muscles also opens the possibility that other types of cells and tissues can be incorporated into microchips, said Montemagno, for a multitude of other tests and uses."


In a "related article" link:

"A new aircraft guidance system can transform chosen planes into robots designed for "volatile combat situations," according to aeronautics engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The robot planes respond to commands typed in English from a laptop on the ground or onboard another aircraft. The engineers tested the system in June at Edwards Air Force Base and, according to an MIT press release, it performed "flawlessly."

The demonstration marks the first time that an individual has communicated complex and precise commands in real time to an unpiloted plane."

New Combat Robot Prepares for Duty



Please visit the link provided for the complete story.