Successfully send a message with vodka

A team of researchers from the Technical University of Warwick University and York University in Canada have created a molecular messaging system with the ability to transmit data in multiple meters with . vodka. The system simulates chemical signal dispersal behavior in nature and offers potential applications for communication in environments that are not suitable for conventional non-zero technology, such as underwater, in tunnels, pipes and even nano-scale inside the human body.

Professor Weisi Guo from the University of Warwick said: "People have achieved the short-range data transfer technology with chemistry before, but today, we have taken this technology to a new level and succeeded. in the continuous transmission of general messages within a few meters distance. "

The first message transmitted was "O Canada" - a sentence from Canada's national anthem. The use of volatile vodka to transfer binary data is quite simple. The team coded the alphabet by binary code by denoting an outflow of alcohol corresponding to bit 1 and no air stream corresponding to bit 0.

With the help of a desk fan, the first molecular message was successfully sent from the transmitter, bypassing the experiment in a distance of nearly 4 meters to a receiving device. Here the device will measure the change in the concentration of alcohol molecules.

"We believe we successfully delivered the world's first message by molecular communication and controlling the concentration of alcohol molecules to encode the alphabet , " said PhD student Nariman Farsad at the university. York said.

Although the researchers acknowledge that the technology will not replace electromagnetic waves that are currently marketing wireless communications technology, they argue that the technology could be used in places where power waves cannot be exploited. from.

"For example, inside tunnels, pipelines or underground structures, chemical signals can provide an effective way to transmit sensitive data," said Guo . such as data collected to reduce the status of structures and processes Potential applications for the technology include wireless monitoring of the operation of sewer systems and pipelines. , a specialized company that could prevent disasters, such as the bus-heavy mountain scandal, sealed the sewer network in London in 2013 or the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 ".

The researchers also believe that chemical signaling techniques can be applied at the nanoscale."At nano scale and in special structural environments, there are always obstacles to electromagnetic signals. Limitations can come from the antenna size or wavelength of the signal but the communication activity. In addition, molecular communication signals can also be biocompatible and only use very little energy to generate and transmit , " said Professor Guo.

The collaborative research group between the two universities has just published their experimental results in PLOS ONE magazine and aims to establish a company to commercialize technology.