Step One in Your Surgery: Swallow the Microscopic Hands

Richard Feynman once said, "A friend of mine (Albert R. Hibbs) suggests a very interesting possibility for relatively small machines. He says that, although it is a very wild idea, it would be interesting in surgery if you could swallow the surgeon." Well, no joking, Mr. Feynman, that very wild idea is close to being reality. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have engineered microscopic hands, smaller than a grain of sand, that can be directed to grasp tiny objects or even cells in the human body. The "microgrippers" look like tiny six-legged crabs. Six fingers, with three-joints each, extend from a hexagonal palm. They're made out of gold-plated nickel, which means they are biocompatible and can also be moved around by a magnet. Activating the gripping action doesn't required any wires, batteries, or remote controls. Researchers simply add chemicals or increase the temperature to cause a special polymer coating on ...