Economy-Communications Sector News/Research

Flying Microchips The Size Of A Sand Grain Could Be Used For Population Surveillance

by SCOTT NEUMAN NPR September 23, 2021

The devices don't have a motor, but engineers were instead inspired by the maple tree's free-falling propeller seeds — technically known as samara fruit. They optimized the aerodynamics of the microfliers so that "as these structures fall through the air, the interaction between the air and those wings cause a rotational motion that creates a very stable, slow, falling velocity," said John A. Rogers, who led the development of the devices.