'Smart dust' studies the planets

British scientists say that tiny smart devices, spread by the wind, can be helpful in studying other planets.

To be able to move in Mars's atmosphere, this device needs to be as small as sand grains. A microcomputer chip, surrounded by a plastic shell, can change its shape while providing electrical impulses, and in this way it moves in the direction that the researcher determines determined.

At the conference of the National Astronomers Association, Glazgo University University experts in Scotland introduced their research results in this field.

Dr. John Berker, professor at the Center for Nanoscale Research in Glazgo, said that thanks to the help of wireless networks, it may be possible to create 'dust' from devices when necessary. Such micro-scale 1 mm diameter.

(Photo: BBC) This idea is not new, but Professor Berker and his colleagues have begun to work with all seriousness and intend to determine how to implement it. He claims that the size chips that are suitable for this device are currently in existence.

It is possible to arrange electronic ' dust ' at the tip of the aerospace ball and drop it into the atmosphere of other planets, where they will be carried away by the wind . If you ' fold ' the polymer cover of this device thanks to the determined charge, the dust particle will be raised high, and if flattened, it will be lowered. Wireless networks will allow the consolidation of micro devices into ' crowds ' and Dr. Berker and his colleagues have established the mathematical model of this process.

'We believe that most dust particles can only' chat 'with neighboring neighbors, but when they are many, they can' communicate 'over longer distances. In the modeling process, we have achieved the integration of 50 devices into a cluster and have been able to do that, even though the wind is very strong. '

The ability to move into hordes allows chips to exchange data with each other and send a 'collective' signal to the ship.

Scientists have "shown" the ability of ' smart dust ', which includes sensors, energy sources, digital communication devices and network eyes. But, if they are used to study other planets, they will need sensors, which are now too large to fit into this electronic electron 'sand grain' . .

However, the researchers hope that in the next 10 years, tiny size sensors will appear. In other environments micro devices can be used to gather information on the battlefield, or install them in cement to observe " health " of bridges, buildings and other structures. From inside.

The idea of ​​using 'smart dust' to study the universe has been described many times by scientists and fiction writers. The most famous work is Stanixlav Lem's novel 'Champion' , which tells of the planet its inhabitants are the smallest robots, able to link into swarms and deprive people of memory and computers.

Doan Phuong