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Beamed Energy Propulsion and Introduction to Micronautics

Micronautics?  Maybe you have heard this word before, but as I typed it in my word processor the spell-checker highlighted it right away.  So it is not in the dictionary yet.  It will be there one day.  How soon this will happen?  I guess it depends on our techno progress, but I am sure: we need it.

 Micronautics was a subject of science fiction for a long time.  In one short story, which I vaguely remember from my childhood, a guy has befriended a microscopic robot, which lived inside his body.  The robot cleaned guy's veins and entertained him with some shrewd talks, until one day the host almost choked to death on a clam.  The robot saved him by pushing the clam out of his throat, but was sadly lost in a spit.

 One has to be pretty small for "being lost in a spit".  In fact, comparing to a real vehicle, say, eighteen-wheeler, measured in meters, nano-vehicle will have same dimensions measured in microns, i.e. it will be million times smaller on linear scales.  When building such extremely small machine will be possible, the best area of application will be indeed the inner micro-space of a human body.  Hence, when micronautics, i.e. an ability to navigate in microspace will become a reality, humanity will gain enormous benefits.  First of all, micronautics will bring revolutionary changes to medicine.  Our bodies could be literally cleaned and mended from inside.  Hundreds of maladies from infectious deceases to atherosclerosis will be obliterated or reduced to subject of regular cleanings, like professional teeth cleaning today.

 Just “swallow your doctor”, as once Richard Feynman, great physicist, formulated the plot.  Feynman was actually quoting his graduate student, Al Hibbs, who came out with this idea (R. Feynman, There’s a Plenty of Room on the Bottom, 1959).  Of course, there is much more room than we can touch in this brief note.  One day such micro-robots will establish connection with our brains, and swallowing your doctor, tax accountant, Spanish teacher or parole officer will become a common practice.  Perhaps, our innermost freedom of will itself will need a constitutional protection one day.  However, before we will get into a need for a new amendment, a lot of technical problems must be solved.

 It took a century to develop such sophisticated aeronautics, as one that we have today.  How much time do we have before the frontier of micronautics could be taken over as well as airspace?  Perhaps, considering acceleration of technological progress, we will get to that point within a shorter period of time.  One of the "simplest" tasks will be design of an engine for nano-robots.  The problem is that one cannot just scale down any existing mechanical engine, because comparing to our macroscopic world, material properties and dominating physical processes at micron scales will be different.  An engine of nano-vehicle must have very few moving parts, comparing to our vehicles.  How one can make such a thing?

 Beamed-energy propulsion (BEP) is a right way for moving nano-vehicles.  Majority of BEP applications are designed for space.  The principle of the process is relatively simple: energy is beamed to the spacecraft from a separate and often remote source.  In real life this likely will be a space-borne high-power laser.  In order to get "beamed", the spacecraft collects and focuses the incident laser beam on some solid propellant.  Under high focus, propellant instantaneously vaporizes into energetic, often ionized exhaust, which propels the vehicle by rocket principle.  This is one of possible BEP scenarios, called ablative laser propulsion.  There are other schemes, but when we are switching from "the space" to micro-space, the main question is: who would voluntarily agree to rocket launches inside his (her) veins and arteries?

 Good news is that at nano-scales we dont even need to employ any destructive propulsion techniques.  The medium of micronautics is mostly water, which composes 90% of blood plasma.  In order to move in a liquid, many bacteria are using so-called flagellum, a tail of a helical shape, which essentially works as a propeller.  Similar idea can be employed in nano-engines.  The energy can be supplied from electromagnetic field: our bodies are practically transparent to magnetic fields, and to certain frequency ranges of electric field.  Thus, a nano-circuit in form of a loop or solenoid, which can rotate or wiggle under external electromagnetic field can do the job.  Flagellum will be attached to a circuit, or it might be just a natural continuation of it.  The orientation of a field will set a direction of motion.

 It is worth noting that 50 years ago Richard Feynman predicted that nano-doctors will be moved by electrical motors driven with an external EM field.  There are other possibilities though, like x-ray beams, proposed by professors of Tokyo Tech University, Shiho and Yabe.  Micronautics may still sound like sci-fi, but it is now a subject of physics and engineering.  Among scientific meetings, where micronautics is discussed is International Symposium on Beamed Energy Propulsion (ISBEP).  The Sixth ISBEP will be held in Scottsdale, Arizona in November 2009.  Although the main scope of the conference will be application of BEP for space propulsion, some works on moving to micro-space are expected and will be very welcome there.

About the Author

Andrew Pakhomov is founder and president of American Institute of Beamed Energy Propulsion, a nonprofit scientific organization serving to development and popularization of this space technology of the future AIBEP He is also associate professor of physics at University of Alabama in Huntsville. You can read more about fascinating field of beamed-energy propulsion, please visit official site of AIBEP.

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International Freedom of Expression Exchange $70.1 High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles The International Freedom of Expression eXchange (IFEX), founded in 1992, is a global network of around 90 nongovernmental organisations that promotes and defends the right to freedom of expression. Author: Miller, Frederic P./ Vandome, Agnes F./ McBrewster, John Binding Type: Paperback Number of Pages: 92 Publication Date: 2010/08/17 Language: English Dimensions: 6.00 x 9.02 x 0.22 inches

The International Freedom of Information Index $105.14 Most Freedom of Information (FOI) Laws make extensive promises about public access to government held information. Giving the citizens (including journalists) access to quality, unspun information is a way to hold politicians and public servants accountable. Well functioning FOI systems are safe guards against corruption and maladministration. Unfortunately, for the public, FOI promises are easy to make, but hard to deliver in practice. This book describes a pilot project comparing the FOI regimes in Australia, the US, South Africa, Thailand and Sweden. The study lays the foundation for the first International FOI Index. The functionality of Freedom of Information is important because it indicates how serious a country is about transparency and accountability two important properties of mature democracies. To be governed can be a painful experience especially when the politicians you have elected do not deliver on their promises. Providing proper access to information about the government is part of a healthy democracy. After all, governments hold the information on behalf of the public dont they? Author: Lidberg, Johan Binding Type: Paperback Number of Pages: 376 Publication Date: 2009/05/01 Language: English Dimensions: 9.00 x 6.00 x 0.27 inches

Cpj International Press Freedom Awards $70.1 High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles The CPJ International Press Freedom Awards honour journalists around the world who show courage in defending press freedom in the face of attacks, threats or imprisonment. Created in 1991, the awards are administered by the Committee to Protect Journalists. Every November, awards are usually given to four individuals, who are feted at a banquet in New York City. One of the aims of the awards is to focus local and international media coverage on countries where press freedom violations are particularly serious. Author: Miller, Frederic P./ Vandome, Agnes F./ McBrewster, John Binding Type: Paperback Number of Pages: 84 Publication Date: 2011/01/08 Language: English Dimensions: 6.00 x 9.02 x 0.20 inches

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Freedom By Amnesty International USA (COR) $20.07 An anthology of short stories commemorating Amnesty Internationals 50th anniversary blends a range of observations on the issue of human rights, in a volume that includes contributions by such figures as Joyce Carol Oates, Nadine Gordimer and Walter Mosley. Original. Author: Amnesty International USA (COR)/ Tutu, Desmond (FRW) Subtitle: Stories Celebrating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Publication Date: 2011/01/04 Number of Pages: 413 Binding Type: Paperback Language: English Depth: 1.00 Width: 5.25 Height: 8.00

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Land and Freedom $70.1 High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles Land and Freedom is a 1995 film (alternative title: Tierra y Libertad) directed by Ken Loach and written by Jim Allen. The movie narrates the story of David Carr, an unemployed worker and member of the Communist Party of Great Britain, who decides to fight for the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War. The movie won the FIPRESCI International Critics Prize and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival. Author: Miller, Frederic P./ Vandome, Agnes F./ McBrewster, John Binding Type: Paperback Number of Pages: 84 Publication Date: 2010/07/24 Language: English Dimensions: 5.98 x 9.01 x 0.20 inches

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Freedom from Discrimination $95.59 The right to freedom from discrimination is an internationally recognised human right and enshrines the principle of egalitarianism. The right to freedom from discrimination is recognised in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and enshrined in international human rights law through its inclusion in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.The right to freedom from discrimination is particularly relevant for groups that have been historically discriminated against and vulnerable groups. In this respect the right to freedom from discrimination has been elaborated upon in the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Author: Miller, Frederic P./ Vandome, Agnes F./ McBrewster, John Binding Type: Paperback Number of Pages: 130 Publication Date: 2010/04/25 Language: English Dimensions: 5.98 x 9.01 x 0.30 inches

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