In news that will surely fire up conspiracy theorists, scientists at Columbia University have created the worldās smallest single-chip system to monitor conditions inside the human body. The chips are tinyā¦they have a total cubic volume of around 1mm, or smaller than microscopic dust mites, and the researchers have already had success using them to track body temperature changes in mice.
Thatās cool, but itās just the start. The scientists say they see a future where this type of technology can be used to monitor your bodyās condition before surgery and during illness, but not quite yet. There havenāt been any human trials of the chips, and researchers say widespread use of the technology to improve health care is far down the road.
You know the words āBill Gatesā are going to come up as this breakthrough gets reported, but the scientists say that these chips canāt be used to spy on anyone. The āmotes,ā as they call these chips, can only communicate the information theyāve collected with the help of an ultrasound machine. The chips donāt use RF frequencies at all and arenāt capable of it even if they wanted to track you as you hit the snack aisle at the grocery store.
Source: Popular Mechanics