Every time a piece of electronics is developed, there is someone waiting in the wings to experiment with it. Each electronic device is fair game for the next guy to work on in terms of reducing it’s size and adding new features. The Japanese were known for their skill with miniature electronics in the last century. In this century it is the nano technology researchers who seem to be grabbing the headlines.

Just recently the researchers at the University of Michigan came forth with a device that measures merely 0.3 mm to a side. It is smaller than a grain of size and is touted to be the smallest computer in the world. Known as the Michigan Micro Mote, this electronic device is able to process data and receive and transmit it as well.

While it is too small to be powered by regular electric current, it is being powered by the frequencies of visible light as it rests on a base station. It was developed to help for research in Oncology, the battle of cancer. It is able to take and report temperatures in minuscule regions comprising of a small cluster of cells in the human body. The system is flexible enough to be reprogrammed for many different purposes and is an interesting science project.