Nano-Nano... is there anybody in there?
Transmissions from a satellite heart was one of my favorite songs by The Flaming Lips… (sounds painfully reminiscent of a herpes simplex outbreak). However, while listening to my favorite neo-liberal radio station, NPR, I learned of a new breakthrough in transistor radios—a nanotube radio!
Yes, I know what you are thinking… yaaaaawwn. But I’m going to tell you about it anyway, you uneducated boob.
The Nanotube radio is the smallest transceiver radio, made from a single carbon nanotube! If this doesn’t resonate with you (pun intended), then consider that this is less than a micron long and 10 nanometers wide, or 1/10000 the width of a human hair! A radio! JEEEES!
In this tiny radioactive space (just kidding), there is an antenna, tuner, amplifier, and demodulator—everything needed to dial in the latest elevator music from any FM channel their hearts desired. The method of tuning the radio is interesting too—it’s totally non-mechanical, involving modulation of an electrical current through the tube to tune in different frequencies.
Interesting enough, they’ve also envisioned this radio as a tool for applications in medicine. Think about tiny radios being planted into blood molecules that are injected into your bloodstream. These radios could report back from anywhere in the body, allowing complex analysis of different bodily functions, including brain activity.
Further, and a bit scarier, is the possibility of monitoring individuals’ whereabouts and activities without them ever knowing. These little buggers are small enough to totally eclipse the use of previous spy tech, making it impossible for us to physically detect them.
So watch out, Nokia—the next cell phone I use may be simply implanted directly into my ear lobe! Hey, my ear is buzzing… I’d better take this.