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Sperm Could Power Nanobots

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Wed Jan 02, 2008 02:26 PM
from the make-sure-you-pick-the-best-swimmers dept.

Lucas123 writes "According to MSNBC, scientists are experimenting with using a sperm's flagellum to overcome the problem of supplying energy to nanobots that could be implanted in the body as smart probes that would release disease-fighting drugs, monitor enzymes and perform other medical roles within a patient's body. Powered by a compound called adenosine triphosphate or ATP, a sperm's flagellum can propel it at about 7 inches an hour. Energy from ATP could also power the pumps charged with dispensing the medication at a certain rate from the nanobots."

+ -

Think of the possibilities... (Score:5, Funny)

by DragonPup (302885) on Wednesday January 02 2008, @02:28PM (#21885728)

...of making your insurance provider to cover your porn costs so you can power your nanobots!
- Powering Fembots (Movie with Tilda Swinton?) (Score:4, Insightful)
  
  by StCredZero (169093) on Wednesday January 02 2008, @02:39PM (#21885926)
  
  How about sperm powered fembots? They could remake this movie!
  
  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0270688/plotsummary [imdb.com]
  
  Parent
- Sperm isn't the fuel. ATP is. (Score:5, Insightful)
  
  by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 02 2008, @03:24PM (#21886504)
  
  ATP is the fuel for muscles. Trying to use ATP to power nanobots has absolutely nothing to do with sperm in particular.
  
  Parent
- The good news (Score:5, Funny)
  
  by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 02 2008, @03:28PM (#21886530)
  
  is your cancer is completely gone.
  
  The bad news is you're pregnant.
  
  Parent
- Re:Think of the possibilities... (Score:5, Funny)
  
  by pnutjam (523990) <filiberto AT excite DOT com> on Wednesday January 02 2008, @03:57PM (#21886874) Homepage Journal
  
  You can bet, if insurance cover its, they will find an efficient and unappealing way to harvest. :(
  
  Parent
That's great an all... (Score:5, Funny)

by Serenissima (1210562) on Wednesday January 02 2008, @02:28PM (#21885738)

But where on Earth can they possibly find enough sperm?
- Re:That's great an all... (Score:5, Funny)
  
  by meringuoid (568297) on Wednesday January 02 2008, @02:34PM (#21885828)
  
  Sperm-powered robots on the hunt for fuel? Well, somehow I think the anime writes itself, don't you?
  
  Parent
  - Re: (Score:3, Funny)
    
    by andphi (899406)
    
    If by "writes" you mean "ties bedroom scenes together with something resembling plot (in the same way that the heroine of the story wears something resembling clothing)", then yes, it does write itself. But I wouldn't want to be caught dead in the same room with the DVD of it.
    - Re:That's great an all... (Score:5, Funny)
      
      by Serenissima (1210562) on Wednesday January 02 2008, @02:43PM (#21885982)
      
      Well, naturally, you'd want to be caught alive in the same room! Having someone find your dead body in a room with that playing on the DVD player would raise some interesting questions... Like "What was he doing so furiously that his heart stopped?"
      
      Parent
      - Re:That's great an all... (Score:5, Funny)
        
        by andphi (899406) <phillipsam&gmail,com> on Wednesday January 02 2008, @03:06PM (#21886292) Journal
        
        I can see it now. Gil Grissom and that Assistant ME David are looking down at my corpse. Gil looks at the box, unopened, and the DVD player, which isn't turned on. Gil says: "Well, this is new." David says: "Preliminary cause of death: exsanguination from these explosive contusions on the face, neck, and chest. No other signs of trauma." That new chick who replaced Sara: "This is so weird. What's your theory, Grissom?" Gil: "I don't have theories, just evidence." and then, in voice over: "Go away, new chick, and don't come back without Sara. I want my Sara back you dumb, overly perky evidence-bunny."
        
        Nick discovers that I didn't order the DVD and don't even own a PAL compatible DVD player. Greg comments on the eclectic but basically porn-free movie collection. "Lots of anime, sci-fi, and fantasy, but no pr0n, unless Ghost in the Shell is pr0n." Greg then tells an unrelated story about being severely embarassed. Nick speculates on the incidence of murder by pr0n and Greg goes off on another Las Vegas underworld history lesson.
        
        Later, Hodges, in another fit of self-importance, concludes: "He died of embarassment." Gil looks at him with that signature "Thank you, Hodges, for telling me what we already knew" look on his face and then, in voice over: "Go away Hodges, and don't come back, ever. I want Lab Greg back, even if it means having to deal with two Gregs"
        
        Parent
    - - Re:That's great an all... (Score:5, Funny)
        
        by andphi (899406) <phillipsam&gmail,com> on Wednesday January 02 2008, @03:21PM (#21886464) Journal
        
        I probably would be. However, this premise doesn't seem to lend itself to that kind of hentai.
        
        Parent
  - Already exists... (Score:5, Funny)
    
    by SanityInAnarchy (655584) <ninja@slaphack.com> on Wednesday January 02 2008, @02:55PM (#21886150) Journal
    
    The plot didn't involve nanotech directly, but it did have quotes like "I need your active molecules! Please, deposit them in the front slot!"
    
    Ahem... or so I'm told.
    
    Parent
  - Re: (Score:3, Funny)
    
    by The Great Pretender (975978)
    
    I, for one, welcome our new sperm-powered nano-robot overlords.
- Re:That's great an all... (Score:5, Funny)
  
  by badran (973386) on Wednesday January 02 2008, @02:34PM (#21885832)
  
  Well Most people here suddenly find them selves a tad more useful to the world...
  
  Parent
In that case (Score:5, Funny)

by WilyCoder (736280) on Wednesday January 02 2008, @02:29PM (#21885750)

In that case my ex could run a power plant.
- Re: (Score:3, Funny)
  
  by EnsilZah (575600)
  
  Don't you mean a Breeder Reactor?
- - Re:In that case (Score:5, Funny)
    
    by WilyCoder (736280) on Wednesday January 02 2008, @03:54PM (#21886824)
    
    The colloquial term is 'cum-guzzling whore', but we can skip the semantics :)
    
    Parent
Sperm life? (Score:3, Interesting)

by Turn-X Alphonse (789240) on Wednesday January 02 2008, @02:30PM (#21885762) Journal

How long would sperm be able to live though? I believe it's about 3 days in an ideal environment (vagina), how would it work in a hostile one like a nanobot?
- Re:Sperm life? (Score:5, Informative)
  
  by pembo13 (770295) on Wednesday January 02 2008, @02:31PM (#21885792) Homepage
  
  I could be wrong, but the vagina is a hostile environment to sperm -- it produces natural spermicides.
  
  Parent
  - - Re:Sperm life? (Score:5, Informative)
      
      by Bryansix (761547) on Wednesday January 02 2008, @02:42PM (#21885964) Homepage
      
      No, they are all hostile. That is why sperm gels up in the seminal fluid shortly after release and then springs into black-ops when the coast is clear to enter the cervix.
      
      Parent
      - Re:Sperm life? (Score:4, Funny)
        
        by Albert Sandberg (315235) on Wednesday January 02 2008, @02:52PM (#21886096) Homepage
        
        .. now this thread is something I thought would never appear on slashdot. And modded informative/insightful all over the place? Hell just froze ;)
        
        Parent
        
        Re:Sperm life? (Score:5, Funny)
        
        by maroberts (15852) on Wednesday January 02 2008, @02:59PM (#21886210) Homepage Journal
        
        Slashdot readers know all about the scientific details of sex. They just haven't experienced it personally (at least not with a member of the opposite sex).
        
        Parent
      - Re: (Score:3, Funny)
        
        by thewils (463314)
        
        Not so - you do know this is how lawyers are conceived, right?
    - Re:Sperm life? (Score:4, Interesting)
      
      by fbjon (692006) on Wednesday January 02 2008, @02:56PM (#21886172) Homepage Journal
      
      Pregnancy is surprisingly difficult.
      
      Parent
      - Re:Sperm life? (Score:4, Funny)
        
        by TekPolitik (147802) on Wednesday January 02 2008, @05:20PM (#21887752) Journal
        
        Pregnancy is surprisingly difficult.
        
        Nah, you just have to have the right environment. Based on years of intensive research into the matter and the work of the major scholars in this area - Maury Povich and Jerry Springer - the right environment is a trailer park.
        
        Parent
      - Re:Sperm life? (Score:5, Insightful)
        
        by Lost Race (681080) on Wednesday January 02 2008, @05:53PM (#21888150)
        
        It's only difficult if you want it. If you don't it's ridiculously easy.
        
        Parent
Close the door! (Score:5, Funny)

by Benanov (583592) * <[brian.kemp] [at] [gmail.com]> on Wednesday January 02 2008, @02:31PM (#21885772) Homepage Journal

Leave me alone, I'm trying to save sick children in Africa!

fap fap fap

(Yes, I know they wouldn't be using actual sperm, merely copying it. But it's still a funny mental image.)
- Re: (Score:3, Funny)
  
  by JContad (1088777)
  
  Leave me alone, I'm trying to save sick children in Africa!
  
  I am pretty conflicted on whether to laud or loathe you for thinking of the children.
Obligatory... (Score:3, Funny)

by doi (584455) on Wednesday January 02 2008, @02:31PM (#21885776)

I for one welcome our new, sticky, nano-robotic overlords!
Sort of like ... (Score:2)

by Tribbin (565963)

Sort of like a cyborg sperm-cell; wicked.
I do NOT want to read the comments! (Score:2)

by Tsu Dho Nimh (663417)

I'm afraid that there is no lower limit to the depths to which /.ers can or will go.
Robotic structure wrapped in living sperm. (Score:5, Funny)

by Bruce McBruce (791094) <maulex@gmail.com> on Wednesday January 02 2008, @02:32PM (#21885798)

'Come' with me if you want to live.
One problem.... (Score:3, Insightful)

by edwardpickman (965122) on Wednesday January 02 2008, @02:34PM (#21885834)

How do you train them to run in a nano hamster wheel.
If only the Wachowski Brothers had known this (Score:2)

by ciaohound (118419)

the "Matrix" premise of robots using human beings as "batteries" might have been made a little more plausible... if slightly more disgusting.
Masturbot (Score:5, Funny)

by Foofoobar (318279) on Wednesday January 02 2008, @02:36PM (#21885882)

I call dibs on the name Masturbot (c) 2007
- - Re:Masturbot (Score:5, Funny)
    
    by Foofoobar (318279) on Wednesday January 02 2008, @02:49PM (#21886050)
    
    Yeah but I whipped out that trademark last year and been beating it for the last month til this post came onto the scene.
    
    Parent
I guess those bots "get around" with a lot of.... (Score:2)

by davidsyes (765062)

... Spunk...

Spurts & sprints?

Smooth, or chunky?

Choosy Bots work in a jiffy..
A bugfix to y'all slashdotters (Score:5, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 02 2008, @02:38PM (#21885912)

--- slashcode.orig 2008-01-02 21:36:25.174107170 +0200 +++ slashcode 2008-01-02 21:36:55.919425508 +0200 @@ -1,3 +1,3 @@ a) wank b) wipe keyboard with tissue -c) throw tissue into garbage bin +c) sell tissue to pharmaceutical company
Sperm as an energy source won't work (Score:5, Funny)

by Bloater (12932) on Wednesday January 02 2008, @02:39PM (#21885930) Homepage Journal

This is just another crackpot perpetual moisten machine.
Come again? (Score:5, Funny)

by Doomstalk (629173) on Wednesday January 02 2008, @02:43PM (#21885976)

Well, I guess it's worth a shot...
Funny... (Score:5, Funny)

by EvilSporkMan (648878) on Wednesday January 02 2008, @02:45PM (#21885998)

I seem to be able to propel sperm about 7 inches in the space of a few seconds.
- Re:Funny... (Score:4, Funny)
  
  by Curze (1166985) on Wednesday January 02 2008, @02:57PM (#21886190)
  
  All I know is this puts an entirely more hilarious spin on "Transformers, More than meets the eye!"
  
  Parent
- Re: (Score:3, Funny)
  
  by SoulRider (148285)
  
  Damn, your quick. It takes me about 6 minutes.
What a moronic story. (Score:5, Informative)

by jonnythan (79727) on Wednesday January 02 2008, @02:55PM (#21886152) Homepage

This isn't about powering nanobots with sperm. It's about looking at sperm's locomotive method and adapting it to nanobots.

I'm not really sure why the article talks about sperm, specifically, but ATP is used all over the human body to do virtually everything, including move muscles.
- Re:What a moronic story. (Score:5, Insightful)
  
  by LanMan04 (790429) on Wednesday January 02 2008, @03:14PM (#21886408) Homepage
  
  I'm not really sure why the article talks about sperm, specifically...
  Maybe because sperm are the only cells in the human body use flagella to locomote, which is what these nanobots are supposed to do?
  
  Parent
Move 7 inches in an hour? (Score:4, Funny)

by Bimkins (242641) on Wednesday January 02 2008, @03:53PM (#21886800)

If this is the same measuring of 7" that most guys use, then these things will probably top out at about 4" or 5"...
- Re:Move 7 inches in an hour? (Score:4, Funny)
  
  by Chosen Reject (842143) on Wednesday January 02 2008, @04:35PM (#21887254)
  
  True, but if it's the same measuring of one hour that most guys use, then these things will do that 4" in about 60 seconds, so it turns out for the best.
  
  Parent
cookie cutter science (Score:4, Informative)

by Goldsmith (561202) on Wednesday January 02 2008, @06:36PM (#21888636)

Makes one (1) Tenured Professor:

1. Find proteins.
2. Attach to a surface (his tags work well).
3. Make link to nanotechnology (half-baked links are easier).
4. Put out a press release claiming to be the first person to put proteins on a surface.

Congratulations, you're tenured!
I'll do my part. (Score:3, Funny)

by talksinmaths (199235) on Wednesday January 02 2008, @07:17PM (#21889052) Homepage

"Kif, clear my schedule."
Probable Conversation .... (Score:4, Funny)

by PPH (736903) on Wednesday January 02 2008, @11:23PM (#21890972)

... at the average Slashdotter's house.
Mother (yelling down basement stairs): "What are you doing down there?"
Slashdotter: "Recharging the robots!"

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Think of the possibilities... (Score:5, Funny)

Powering Fembots (Movie with Tilda Swinton?) (Score:4, Insightful)

Sperm isn't the fuel. ATP is. (Score:5, Insightful)

The good news (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Think of the possibilities... (Score:5, Funny)

That's great an all... (Score:5, Funny)

Re:That's great an all... (Score:5, Funny)

Re: (Score:3, Funny)

Re:That's great an all... (Score:5, Funny)

Re:That's great an all... (Score:5, Funny)

Re:That's great an all... (Score:5, Funny)

Already exists... (Score:5, Funny)

Re: (Score:3, Funny)

Re:That's great an all... (Score:5, Funny)

In that case (Score:5, Funny)

Re: (Score:3, Funny)

Re:In that case (Score:5, Funny)

Sperm life? (Score:3, Interesting)

Re:Sperm life? (Score:5, Informative)

Re:Sperm life? (Score:5, Informative)

Re:Sperm life? (Score:4, Funny)

Re:Sperm life? (Score:5, Funny)

Re: (Score:3, Funny)

Re:Sperm life? (Score:4, Interesting)

Re:Sperm life? (Score:4, Funny)

Re:Sperm life? (Score:5, Insightful)

Close the door! (Score:5, Funny)

Re: (Score:3, Funny)

Obligatory... (Score:3, Funny)

Sort of like ... (Score:2)

I do NOT want to read the comments! (Score:2)

Robotic structure wrapped in living sperm. (Score:5, Funny)

One problem.... (Score:3, Insightful)

If only the Wachowski Brothers had known this (Score:2)

Masturbot (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Masturbot (Score:5, Funny)

I guess those bots "get around" with a lot of.... (Score:2)

A bugfix to y'all slashdotters (Score:5, Funny)

Sperm as an energy source won't work (Score:5, Funny)

Come again? (Score:5, Funny)

Funny... (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Funny... (Score:4, Funny)

Re: (Score:3, Funny)

What a moronic story. (Score:5, Informative)

Re:What a moronic story. (Score:5, Insightful)

Move 7 inches in an hour? (Score:4, Funny)

Re:Move 7 inches in an hour? (Score:4, Funny)

cookie cutter science (Score:4, Informative)

I'll do my part. (Score:3, Funny)

Probable Conversation .... (Score:4, Funny)

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