Scientists at ETH Zurich have created a flagellum-propelled micro robot as small as a bacterium that they can remotely control using magnetic fields. The Artificial Bacterial Flagella have a coiled tail made of indium, gallium, arsenic, and chromium, and they have a tiny magnetized head made of a chromium/nickel/gold tri-layer film. They have no moving parts, but the coiled structure of the flagellum acts as a sort of propeller, and the magnetized head is used for directional control. Hopefully, the ABFs will be able to carry microscopic material such as medicine to parts of the body that would otherwise be too small to reach. And one day, if we're lucky, they'll finally make cinematic dreams come true and carry a tiny Dennis Quaid through Martin Short's veins. More details here.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Robo-bacteria
