Scientists at King's College London developed a toothpaste ingredient using keratin from human hair that can repair and strengthen damaged tooth enamel.

For many people, sitting back in the dentist's chair can already be a terrifying experience. But now a trip to the dentist could get a whole lot scarier as an AI-powered robot completes its first unsupervised procedure on a live human. The robot, developed by US-based company Perspective, successfully carried out a crown replacement in just 15 minutes - eight times faster than a human specialist. To carry out the procedure, the patient's mouth was first mapped with a 3D scanner before an AI planned and carried out the operation autonomously. Dr Chris Ciriello, CEO and founder of Perceptive, says: 'This medical breakthrough enhances precision and efficiency of dental procedures, and democratizes access to better dental care, for improved patient experience and clinical outcomes.'

Honey might be a sweet solution for developing environmentally friendly components for neuromorphic computers, systems designed to mimic the neurons and synapses found in the human brain. Hailed by some as the future of computing, neuromorphic systems are much faster and use much less power than traditional computers. Washington State University engineers have demonstrated one way to make them more organic too. In a study published in Journal of Physics D, the researchers show that honey can be used to make a memristor, a component similar to a transistor that can not only process but also store data in memory. "This is a very small device with a simple structure, but it has very similar functionalities to a human neuron," said Feng Zhao, associate professor of WSU's School of Engineering and Computer Science and corresponding author on the study.

New research suggests that scientists can use honey to make brain chips like computer chips for processing and storing data. Computers now require far more energy than the human brain, especially when it comes to processing and storing data. Computers need the power to flow to different parts of the computer in order to perform processing, storage, and display. But in the brain, every neuron or nerve cell can process data and store memory. Therefore, computer scientists around the world are working to develop futuristic computers or neuromorphic computer chips that behave like the human nervous system and pass through with less energy.

Regular glasses could soon double as night vision goggles after scientists developed an ultra-thin crystal film which acts as a filter to help humans see in the dark. The transparent metallic film contains nanometre-scale crystals that are hundreds of times thinner than human hair. It can be applied directly to a pair of spectacles and works by converting infrared light, which is invisible to the human eye, into images people can see. Nanotechnology: The transparent metallic film contains nanometre-scale crystals that are hundreds of times thinner than human hair. How it works: This graph illustrates how the ultra-thin film would be applied to glasses to allow wearers to see in the dark.

An army of microscopic robots thinner than a human hair have been created that can be injected into the body to wage war on disease, researchers claim. It resembles the plot of sixties film Fantastic Voyage in which a vehicle was injected into a patient. Scientists inside destroyed his blood clot - with a laser gun. The new real-world micro-bots could monitor nerve impulses in the heart or brain, according to scientists from Cornell University who created the machines. The minute four-legged machines will also be able to move through tissue and blood after entering the body via a hypodermic needle.

Scientists have taken the tiny house trend to a whole new level. Using a new nanorobotic system, French scientists built a'microhouse' on top of an optical fiber that's as thin as human hair, which is 75 microns thick. It measures just 20 micrometers across but has several stunningly accurate details, including a front door, windows and even a tiled roof. A team of French scientists from the Femto-ST Institute built a 20-micrometer wide'microhouse' (pictured) on top of an optical fiber to demonstrate a new nanorobotic system A team of French scientists from the Femto-ST Institute detailed the process of creating the microhouse in new study published Friday in the Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A. The new nanorobotic system, called μRobotex, uses a combination of technologies, including a tiny maneuverable robot, a focused ion beam and a gas injection device. To construct the microhouse, the scientists used a mix of origami and nanometer-precise robotics.

Robots that can disable bombs, perform delicate surgery or nimbly handle cooking ingredients could be just around the corner, thanks to a new wonder material. Experts have created an artificial skin from silicon rubber - the same type found in the straps of swimming goggles - that could give machines a human-like sense of touch. Stretchable membranes containing sensors, connected by channels half the width of a human hair, provide tactile feedback on a par with our own. The biologically inspired breakthrough could also be used to create more advanced prosthetic devices, to let people who have lost limbs feel again. Robots that can disable bombs, perform delicate surgery or nimbly handle cooking ingredients could be just around the corner.

Russian author Boris Zhitkov wrote the 1931 short story Microhands, in which the narrator creates miniature hands to carry out intricate surgeries. And while that was nearly 100 years ago, the tale illustrates the real fundamentals of the nanoscience researchers are working on today. Nanoscience is the study of molecules that are one billionth of a metre in size. Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has made millions of mouths water over the years, thanks to the author's vivid descriptions of quirky tastes and inventive sweets. In reality, there aren't chewing gums that taste like a three-course dinner just yet, but food manufacturers have been working on ways to change tastes and textures using molecular tech To put this into perspective, a human hair is between 50,000 and 100,000 nanometres thick.

The world's smallest lens has been created using 3D printing, and it's just twice the width of a human hair. Its makers claim the lens could lead to cameras the size of a grain of salt, revolutionising surgery, surveillance, robotics and drone technology. Researchers in Germany created a triplet lens device by combining three of the lenses into a'pinhead' device. It is capable of razor sharp images and can attach to the end of an optical fibre, and is thin enough to fit in the hollow of a syringe. Researchers in Germany have created the world'd s smallest lens using 3D printing.