nanotech stories

This here machine is the MBE, named after the process it uses to assemble everything from LEDs to laser components. With it, engineers in the U.K. are trying to figure out how we can build everyday gadgets and high-end electronics more efficiently, and better to boot.
The early months of 2011 saw masses take to the streets to topple longstanding autocratic rulers. These upheavals differed from others in history in that there was no one charismatic leader or ideologically-driven group leading the charge. It's as if millions came together to act as one gigantic entity. And with the help of technology, they kind of were. While some observers have likened this flashmob ether to some insect-like "hive mind," television has a far more apt example at the ready: the Borg. Yes, it appears as if we are steadily transforming into Star Trek: The Next Generation's collective of bionic albinos who have united with technology in an unyielding mission to enslave the universe in cyberpunk servitude. In the short term, we probably won't be cruising in a giant space cube in search of civilizations to assimilate. However, the next decade will see a spate of advances that will foster a collective linked-in consciousness. Here's a look at the tech that will literally, figuratively, and irrevocably break down the walls between our machines and our selves. Resistance is futile. Or some such.