As the skies prepare to be traversed by super drones and flying electric cars, Northwest University laboratories are finalizing an experiment that could revolutionize air monitoring processes.
Scientists have designed a winged microchip the size of a grain of sand, which is a candidate to become the most flying device; small never developed , which is; able to glide over great distances.
To reveal it & egrave; the Nature magazine, from which we learn that the mini-chips, designed with biodegradable materials to be transported by the wind limiting the environmental impact, could be used for different purposes, for example to monitor the rate of atmospheric pollution and spread of diseases. Being equipped with chips, sensors and small antennas, these tiny objects can transmit data in a modest way. wireless. A curious fact is; that the remote sensing technology used for their conception is; the same developed by the US military during the Vietnam War.
Photo credits: Nature
The devices were made taking inspiration from aerodynamics of tree seeds , such as those of poplar or dandelion, when they are scattered by the wind, twirling slowly in order to spread the most & ugrave; far as possible from the mother plant and thus be able to guarantee the reproduction of the species (a process that science calls & quot; anemophilic dissemination & quot;). After studies and simulations, the team of scholars & egrave; managed to identify a functional design that guaranteed to be able to sprinkle them while maintaining a punctual and controlled landing. At a glance their shape, which is there & ograve; which allows them to rotate in a functional way, resembles that of a three-pointed star.
As confessed by John Rogers, a professor at Northwest University who participated in the realization of the project, the team & egrave; was able to create devices which, in the fall phase, maintain a trajectory more & ugrave; stable and speed; terminal pi & ugrave; slow compared to the seeds of the plants they were inspired by. “We think we have beaten biology,” the scholar commented.
Rogers added that flying chips may also have the ability to do so. of active flight, to avoid that they limit themselves to one activity passive like that of seeds but that they can on the contrary “fly away like a fly”.
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