AI SCIENCE
Your Roomba could never!
Scientists have built tiny light-powered robots that can pick up and move bacteria.
The robots are less than one micrometre wide, around 50 times smaller than a human hair.
In lab tests, they could collect bacteria, carry them through liquid and release them somewhere else.
Researchers at Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg control the robots using light.
Tiny antennas absorb and redirect photons, which pushes the robots forwards, while changing the light helps steer them.
Here’s what you should know:
Its size is smaller than one micrometre.
It’s powered by light.
And its potential use is moving and studying microscopic materials.
Honey, they shrunk the Roomba
The robots can also make sharp 90-degree turns and still move while carrying groups of bacteria, although they slow down with heavier loads.
Researchers say the technology could one day help scientists handle cells, bacteria and other microscopic materials more precisely.
Why do Scientists get to have all the fun? - MV