Science / Medicine : Grain-of-Sand Sized Antennas Built
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
Scientists say they have produced antennas the size of a single grain of sand. Unlike the giant antennas needed to receive the longer wavelengths used by communications systems, these tiny antennas can receive extremely short wavelengths of infrared radiation, according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, where the small antennas were developed.
The small antennas could be used to develop infrared detectors that could “see” images of heat radiating from all warm objects, such as people, animals and buildings. Scientists, however, were not the first to build such detectors. Insects use their own “detectors” to see in the dark, thus enhancing their chances of survival.
