Smart dust.

Going tiny for wider coverage.

Tiny "smart" devices that can be borne on the wind like dust particles could be carried in space probes to explore other planets, UK engineers say. The devices would consist of a computer chip covered by a plastic sheath that can change shape when a voltage is applied, enabling it to be steered. [...] Dr John Barker, from the University of Glasgow, said the particles could use wireless networking to form swarms.

The polymer sheath surrounding the computer chip could be made to wrinkle or flatten out. Wrinkling the plastic sheath would increase the drag on the particle, lifting it higher on the wind. Flattening out the sheath would cause the particle to plummet. [...] "In our simulations, we have shown that a swarm of 50 dust particles can organise themselves into a star formation, even in turbulent wind." The ability to fly in formation would allow the processing of data to be spread, or "distributed" between all the chips, and a collective signal to be beamed back to a "mothership".

Terrestrial uses are also being proposed, including battlefield data collection and mixing smart dust into concrete to internally measure the health of buildings and bridges. Lots more technical data can be found at Berkeley's Smart Dust Project homepage (including magnified pictures of the devices), and the corporate spin-off, Dust Networks.