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We will monitor pollution by (checks notes) dispersing a huge swarm of tiny robots, themselves made of heavy metals, that are infeasibly difficult to recover or
by noindiecred 5y ago
We will monitor pollution by (checks notes) dispersing a huge swarm of tiny robots, themselves made of heavy metals, that are infeasibly difficult to recover or recycle.
- toper-centage 5y agoWe have covered the earth with nanobits to track air quality and the results are astonishing. The atmosphere is full of nanobots.
- ronsor 5y ago"Nanobots Used to Track Air Quality Ironically Make Air Quality Much Worse" Sounds like an Onion headline honestly.
- jnsie 5y agoHow many nanobits in a nanobot?
- matrixcubed 5y agoDepends on whether the last nanobit is used for parity or data.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- aomobile 5y agoWhat about magnets for collection?
- lambdasquirrel 5y agoPretty sure any magnet strong enough to attract one of these from the distances required would also induce a voltage on any sufficiently long wire that’s moving through the flux lines. i.e. might cause problems for your car, for airplanes, etc.
- tonmoy 5y agoNeither the researchers nor the media outlet said anything about pollution
- monocasa 5y agoFTA > It's neither a bird nor a plane, but a winged microchip as small as a grain of sand that can be carried by the wind as it monitors such things as pollution levels or the spread of airborne diseases.
- hinkley 5y agoSomeone is going to aspirate these things.
- embedded_hiker 5y agoIncluding frogs and birds.
- johnisgood 5y agoYeah, this could get pretty ugly.
- farisjarrah 5y agoThere is a video that demonstrates and explains the nano bots in the article and near the end of the video they stated that the bots are made out of biodegradable materials that will degrade with time/rain
- titzer 5y agoEverything degrades over a long enough timescale, even plastics and metals. The question is what damage they do to ecosystems on their long cycle to be atomized and recycled.
- EarthLaunch 5y agoNo, it says "Some of the microfliers are built" with such a material.