Microsoft Word Kurzweil, Ray The Singularity Is Near doc

Smart Dust.
DARPA is developing devices even tinier than birds and bumblebees called "smart dust"—complex 
sensor systems not much bigger than a pinhead. Once fully developed, swarms of millions of these devices could be 
dropped into enemy territory to provide highly detailed surveillance and ultimately support offensive warfare missions 
(for example, releasing nanoweapons). Power for smart-dust systems will be provided by nanoengineered fuel cells, as 
well as by conversion of mechanical energy from their own movement, wind, and thermal currents. 
Want to find a key enemy? Need to locate hidden weapons? Massive numbers of essentially invisible spies could 
monitor every square inch of enemy territory, identify every person (through thermal and electromagnetic imaging, 
eventually DNA tests, and other means) and every weapon and even carry out missions to destroy enemy targets. 
Nanoweapons.
The next step beyond smart dust will be nanotechnology-based weapons, which will make obsolete 
weapons of larger size. The only way for an enemy to counteract such a massively distributed force will be with its 
own nanotechnology. In addition, enhancing nanodevices with the ability to self-replicate will extend their capabilities 
but introduces grave dangers, a subject I address in chapter 8. 
Nanotechnology is already being applied to a wide range of military functions. These include nanotech coatings 
for improved armor; laboratories on a chip for rapid chemical and biological-agent detection and identification; 
nanoscale catalysts for decontaminating areas; smart materials that can restructure themselves for different situations; 
biocidal nanoparticles incorporated into uniforms to reduce infection from injuries; nanotubes combined with plastics 
to create extremely strong materials; and self-healing materials. For example, the University of Illinois has developed 
self-healing plastics that incorporate microspheres of liquid monomers and a catalyst into a plastic matrix; when a 
crack appears, the microspheres break, automatically sealing the crack.
54