87
Fully programmable microrobots operate at cellular scale using nanowatt power
(interestingengineering.com)
Why is there a can of salmon in the picture??
this post was submitted on 10 Apr 2026
87 points (96.8% liked)
Technology
83666 readers
4822 users here now
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Our Rules
- Follow the lemmy.world rules.
- Only tech related news or articles.
- Be excellent to each other!
- Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
- Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
- Politics threads may be removed.
- No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
- Only approved bots from the list below, this includes using AI responses and summaries. To ask if your bot can be added please contact a mod.
- Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
- Accounts 7 days and younger will have their posts automatically removed.
Approved Bots
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
It’s a finger under heavy magnification, if you’re not joking.
If you are, it’s because they wanted to demonstrate how e-fish-ient their new technology is.
Ah no I wasn't joking, I didn't get that, lol. It was also that the pic showed only for half a sec before a popup appeared to pay for the site.
Thanks!
Ps e-fish-ient lol
Reader mode hid the ads and gave the full article btw!
Yay! Who had Grey Goo apocalypse for April?
These don't look self-replicating, though...
Nah, it won't be an apocalypse. Just more of the dystopia we're all completely accustomed to. You'll get ads based on the content of your blood. Police will show up at your door minutes after you ingest any illegal drug. And you know that thing where LinkedIn and dating apps are like "we may or may not have found you a match, pay us to find out!" You'll get notifications like that about cancer.
It's alright they'll be out competed by the 5G nanobots.
I always assumed nanoscale robots would need to be lithography-based. Seems that was right. On the other hand, I assumed a MEMS actuator… their solid state propulsion is very interesting.
Article is locked for me, but I'm assuming piezo crystals?
The robot’s electrokinetic propulsion exploits microscale physics. Platinum electrodes drive fluid flow with no moving parts at around 60 nanoamperes. Four electrodes enable translation, rotation, and arcing. They currently operate at 1 volt, but could reach 10 times faster speeds near water’s electrolysis limit.
Electric field propulsion, apparently
I can only see the picture but from the scale they seem to be too big to be nanobots. They seem to be about 3 or 4 mm so they're not going in your blood vessels that's for sure.
Haha that picture shows one on a finger. It’s literally half the size of a single ridge of your fingerprint. Like a speck of dust.
Finally plot for the TV show/book series coming to reality
(not all seasons released yet)
Silo
We getting the nanos from 17776?