Mind-Blowing Smart Dusts

Be careful the next time you take a deep breath: you might inhale a computer and radio transmitter into your body. Scientists at the UC Berkeley have successfully tested sensors with embedded radio transmitters the size of a small fleck of glitter, measuring 5 cubic millimeters.

These so called "smart dusts" are designed to work with one another, so that a scoop of these tiny sensors can be dispersed in remote or environmentally harzardous locations to take readings ranging from the location of seabirds to the presence of toxic chemicals.

Interesting news about the latest technologies like this come to me through a Yahoo mailing list called the Bay Area Futurists. I have my friend Dan Best to thank for introducing me to this very interesting cyber discussion group.