Since they're too tiny for radio how would nanites communicate?

[Superposed_Cat]

Hey all, firstly, sorry for my terrible phrasing and grammar in the title but I was severely limited by character count. I was wondering if there are any known methods existign that would allow nanites to communicate since they seem too small to absorb radio waves or microwaves, Any input appreciated.

 

[CWatters]

According to the Star Trek wiki... (I had to google it honest)...

http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Nanite

A nanite was a microscopic robotic device and a form of nanotechnology. A nanite was built by manipulating atoms and contained gigabytes of computer memory. It was small enough to enter living cells and could be programmed to do numerous tasks... snip...Nanites consisted of several components with different functions. Nanites used in the 24th century are composed of a forward propulsion block, an Oneamisu receiver...

Perhaps they used their Oneamisu receiver whatever that is.

I doubt they are too small to absorb microwaves. After all if a water molecule can be heated by microwaves...

 

[DrStupid]

I was wondering if there are any known methods existign that would allow nanites to communicate

Microorganisms use chemical signals.

 

[Quantum Defect]

Microorganisms use chemical signals.

Insects and plants (and higher organisms -- think Mr. Tomcat marking his territory ) use chemical communication too.

 

[Superposed_Cat]

My question was based on if nanotech was to become a reality, so chemical communcation would most likely be out of the question as that requires enzymes which are too complicated to be designed by man.

 

[SteamKing]

Hey all, firstly, sorry for my terrible phrasing and grammar in the title but I was severely limited by character count. I was wondering if there are any known methods existign that would allow nanites to communicate since they seem too small to absorb radio waves or microwaves, Any input appreciated.

Why can't nanites fabricate an antenna? After all, humans don't personally absorb radio waves in order to receive a signal.

 

[Superposed_Cat]

"The nano receiver translates the electromagnetic oscillations of the radio wave into the mechanical vibrations of a nano-tube. The vibrations are then converted into a stream of electrical pulses that reproduce the original radio signal," ah never mind, someone's invented a nano scale radio receiver already
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanoradio

rendering my question moot. Thanks anyway.

 

[SteamKing]

My question was based on if nanotech was to become a reality, so chemical communcation would most likely be out of the question as that requires enzymes which are too complicated to be designed by man.

Man, you've fallen behind (technologically) and you can't catch up!

Who sez enzymes are too complicated to be designed by man?

http://www1.lsbu.ac.uk/water/enztech/engineering.html

 

[DrStupid]

that requires enzymes which are too complicated to be designed by man.

Nanites are even more complicate to design.

 

[Superposed_Cat]

Ah, turns out the nanotubes may only be a couple of atoms wide but they're hundreds of meters long. Not really "nano"

 

[DaveC426913]

Who sez enzymes are too complicated to be designed by man?

I'd think the issue is data transfer rate.

 

[Doug Huffman]

[ ... ]that requires enzymes which are too complicated to be designed by man.

See Gene Drive. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_drive#CRISPR.2FCas9

 

[nsaspook]

I think they usually communicate using ultraviolet light.
http://www.orionsarm.com/eg-article/4aae1c18950ae