http://www.ctnews3d.com/zzz/59.html Researchers from the University of California are developing 'smart dust'; tiny electronic devices designed to capture large amounts of information about their surroundings while literally floating on air. This ‘dust’ will be designed to perform functions such as monitor the environment for light, sound, temperature, chemical composition, and a wide range of other information. This data could then be beamed back to a remote base station.
The smart dust concept involves packing advanced sensors, tiny computers, and wireless communicators onto minuscule 'motes' of silicon, which will be able to drift on the wind. These motes are made using the same photolithography techniques used to make computer chips. They are made with sensors that can be programmed to look for specific information, a computer that can store the information and sort out which data is worth reporting, and a communicator that enables the mote to be 'interrogated' by the base unit. Their power source is currently dependent on solar cells, but they may be fitted with lithium batteries in the future, so they can function at night.
At the moment, the smallest prototype mote is 62 cubic millimeters. However, by July in 2001, the researchers expect to reduce its size to only 1 cubic millimeter. A problem they are faced with is the power requirements of the sensors, computer, and transmitter. The motes need to be able to run on ultra low power. [...]