Tiny Computers Could Transform Our Lives

Remember Innerspace, the comedy sci-fi movie from the '80s about a microscopic manned pod injected into a human? Although we're years away from launching submarines inside our bodies, advances in engineering have made it possible to build computers so tiny that embedding them inside living tissue is no longer a figment of a sci-fi writer's imagination. Indeed, it's now been 20 years since British scientist Kevin Warwick first implanted a silicon RFID transmitter into his arm to remotely control computers in doors, lights and other devices. He then took it a step further by interfacing the device with his own nervous system to control a robotic arm, earning himself the nickname "Captain Cyborg." While it's not headline news every day, the pace of microcomputer technology has not slowed, and I'm still occasionally astounded by the ingenuity of some new developments.