Booge sent me this photo of a dust mite. These creatures are microscopic (this shot was taken with a scanning electron microscope), allergenic (10% of Americans are allergic to them) and omnipresent (you probably have countless on you right now and millions on your pillow, you filthy, filthy animal).
What's particularly interesting about this image is the gear train in front of the creature. To give you a sense of proportion: each gear tooth is smaller than a human red blood cell. The gears are attached to a microscopic motor and function like a transmission. You're looking at nanotechnology.
It's obvious, isn't it? We need to train dust mites to be nanotechnicians and nanomechanics. They work for cheap--we have an abundance of excess human skin cells and hairs for them to feast upon--and we won't have to outsource the work the third world nations. Though, perhaps third world dust mites are easier to exploit...
Thanks, Booge.
Photo source: KQED via Flickr
May 10, 2008
Nanotechs
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8 comments:
Ok, thanks a LOT....now I won't be able to sleep tonight thinking about all the dustmites walking over my face as I sleep!! EEWWWW!!!
Hmmm. That dust mite looks mighty interested in those gears. "Let's see...if I just put that one here, and those two over there...good Lord, I have the beginnings of a functioning machine gun! I can rule the world!"
Of course, it's a very small world to a dust mite.
wordwitch~ would you rather the dust mites, or endless drifting dunes of "dust" that is actually shed human skin? Now there's a thought for you. *really evil grin*
"you probably have countless on you right now"
In Finland the scientists say that dust mites are becoming extinct because people are cleaning so much (obviously that's a good thing). It was on the news about a month ago.
Dang, look at that thing. No wonder I'm allergic to the little mofos.
Itchy, itchy, itchy, itchy, itchy.
Thanks a lot. :oP
LOL, the question is could the researchers handle all the allergies if we had them working on nanotech. ;)
Cleaning good - Dust mite extinction bad. :( I can't imagine how gross it would be if all the shed skin and hair and stuff piled up in your house (faster than it already does of course). It's bad enough that dust is mostly skin. I don't need to go to bed in a burrow of corn flakes. *shudders, curls up in a little ball*
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