Smart Dust May Clean Up In New Economy
We like to keep tabs on technology that will revolutionize our economy and our lives.
When the Investor’s Business Daily discovers a new technology, chances are it is right on the cusp of main stream acceptance and commercialization. IBD keeps a close eye on disruptive technologies, profiling software and ecommerce before most business media even had the idea that a revolution was upon them.
Recently, IBD profiled smart dust. These minute sensors, a marriage between computing and nano technologies, promise to change everything from medicine to shopping. They can be networked together with wireless internet technology to create a supersensor.
Nano-sensors could find cancer cells and mark them for elimination, while keeping health cells alive–perhaps the holy grail for cancer-fighting strategy. They also have industrial uses, such as factory and materials monitoring, a fact that is starting to pique corporate interests:
Sales of smart dust systems are starting to snowball among industrial clients, says Peter Zornio, chief strategic officer for the Emerson Process Management unit of Emerson Electric. Zornio says smart dust networks are “the No. 1 growth thrust” for his $6.7 billion unit, which is Emerson’s largest division. He foresees $500 million in annual revenue from smart dust for his firm within five years, compared with “immaterial” sales today.
IBD is quick to point out the ominous side of smart dust. With the world becoming full of information-gathering material, how will privacy be maintained?
Alvin Toffler is quoted in a side bar story saying, “The question is: How do we live with all of that? How do we limit it and to what degree will it be possible?”
I guess those are the questions we should ask right now. Anyone have any ideas?
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is one of my favorite financial books of all time. It's an allegory about a guy who has a terrible job, and how he overcomes challenges to achieve his dreams.
Dust control is a major issue within the Process industry, this introudction from Emerson is an excellent example of how it can be controlled.