Power to the Tiny: Nanogenerators Scavenge Energy

"So nat'ralists observe, a flea
Hath smaller fleas that on him prey,
And these have smaller fleas that bite 'em,
And so proceed ad infinitum."
—Johnathan Swift
The miniscule devices that fall under the title of nanotechnology have huge potential, so long as they can utilize a power source better than a battery. The successful nanotech product will rely on its ability to scavenge “waste energy” ad infinitum (as Jonathan Swift would have said). In a recent article in the Scientific American (January, 2008), Zhong Lin Wang (Director of the Centre for Nanostructure Characterization, Georgia Institute of Technology) gives the example of the 1920’s watchmaker who invented the self-winding watch. Mechanically harvesting energy from the wearer’s moving arm and putting it to work rewinding the watch was a brilliant concept.

Angel's Promises by Nina Munteanu

"Angel's Promises" is a short story that is aptly in keeping with misunderstanding, apparent abandonment and hopeful resolution. It's all about promises: to others and ultimately to oneself. The story was originally published in Dreams & Visions (Skysong Press). It was nominated for an Aurora Award and included in a "Best of" anthology by Skysong. Angel's Promises will appear in a short story collection entitled "Natural Selection" by Pixl Press (an imprint of Starfire World Syndicate).

This is a love story set in a time when AI and humans have settled on an uneasy truce of cooperation.

Artificial Intelligence: Part 1--Neural Implants

Cannot we let people be themselves, and enjoy life in their own way? You are trying to make another you. One’s enough.—Ralph Waldo Emerson

“We used to treat the brain like soup, adding chemicals that enhance or suppress certain neurotransmitters,” said Rick Trosch, an American physician who works with deep brain therapies. “Now we’re treating it like circuitry.”

Ray Kurzweil noted in his book, The Age of Spiritual Machines (1999) that we were increasingly combating cognitive and sensory afflictions by treating the brain and nervous system like a complex computational system. He cited examples of cochlear implants together with electronic speech processors that performed frequency analysis of sound waves so that deaf people could hear and understand voices. Other scientists have worked with retinal implants, small solar-powered computers that communicate to the optic nerve, that together with special glasses communicating to the implanted computer by laser signal, permit a blind person to see.

Research labs are developing a vast array of “intelligent” wearable devices that can enhance memory, awareness and cognition. Digging deeper, microchip implants, such as radio frequency identification devices (RFID) inserted in humans, are gaining momentum.