-Caveat Lector-
Driftglass.
Zombie Cow wrote:
-Caveat Lector-
http://www.eurekalert.org/releases/ns-bso082499.html
Beware swarms of 'smart dust'
CLEANLINESS freaks have a new rationale for their pathological hatred
of dust-it could soon be spying on them.
Packed full of sensors, lasers and communications transceivers,
particles of "smart dust" are being designed to communicate with one
another. They could be used for a range of applications from weather
monitoring to spying.
The tiny "motes" are being developed at the University of California,
Berkeley, as part of a programme to produce the smallest possible
devices that have a viable way of communicating with each other.
Each mote is made up of a number of microelectromechanical systems, or
MEMS, wired up to form a very simple computer. At present each mote is
5 millimetres long, but Kris Pister, one of the developers, says that
in future they could be small enough to remain suspended in air,
buoyed by the currents, sensing and communicating for hours.
The latest version not only has a thick-film battery powering it but
also a solar cell to recharge it. "This remarkable package has the
ability to sense and communicate, and is self-powered," says Randy
Katz, a communications engineer on the project. He presented the
latest work at last week's Mobicom99 mobile computing meeting in
Seattle.
MEMS are made using the same photolithographic techniques as
integrated circuits, so once perfected they should be easy to
mass-produce. Patterns are etched out of a silicon wafer to create
structures such as optical mirrors or tiny engines.
Each mote in a smart-dust system will need to survive on extremely low
power, while being able to communicate kilobits of data per second. To
this end, says Katz, the team has designed motes that shut down parts
of themselves when they are not being used.
The latest challenge has been to devise a system that enables the
motes to communicate. Katz and his colleagues decided to use optical
transceivers because of their low energy demand compared with radio
communications. According to Pister they have already shown that they
can monitor the dust 21 kilometres across San Francisco Bay. "There's
no way you're going to get that kind of range except with optical
devices," he says.
"The base station may actually reside in a hand-held unit, much like a
pair of binoculars," says Katz. This would allow for simultaneous
viewing of the scene from afar while superimposing any measured data
on the image. He adds that this approach could be especially useful
for hazardous applications such as detecting chemical weapons or
sending the dust into space.
The next task is to build distributed intelligence into the dust to
produce "swarm behaviour".
###
Author: Duncan Graham-Rowe
New Scientist issue 28th August 99
DECLARATION DISCLAIMER
==
CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic
screeds are not allowed. Substancenot soapboxing! These are sordid matters
and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright
frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects
spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL
gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers;
be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and
nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
Archives Available at:
http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
DECLARATION DISCLAIMER
==
CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic
screeds are not allowed. Substancenot soapboxing! These are sordid matters
and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright
frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects
spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL
gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers;
be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and
nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
Archives Available at:
http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:]
