One of my favorite chapters to write in Bogus to Bubbly was the one about nanotechnology. It was great to finally hand over the spotlight to those wondrous tiny robots that melted the Armory, “cured” Zane’s brain, and built half of Aya’s city.
But since I handed in B to B a few months ago, there have already been some cool new developments in the world of nanos. Here’s a three-legged, crab-walking microbot developed in South Korea. It’s made of a polymer (like plastic), but it’s powered by rat heart tissue. (Eww. But you can’t beat evolution for power sources, I guess.)
Watch it go:
You can really see the heart tissue dynamics in the way it moves.
Pros: It managed to walk for more than a week on one charge of rat heart.
Cons: It only went 50 meters in that week, giving it an average speed of 0.0002 MPH. But if your nanobot was walking around inside something really tiny like, say, a brain cell, this would be plenty fast.
Note that this robot isn’t proper nanotech, because it’s more than a millimeter across. (Your fingernail is about a millimeter thick.) Proper nanobots will be between 1 and 100 nanometers across, at least a thousand times smaller.
But from big things, little things grow.
For more about nanos, you can buy Bogus at at your friendly neighborhood indie bookstore, or at Powell’s, Amazon, or Barnes and Noble.
And don’t forget that Justine and I will be in Toronto, Ontario Monday night:
Justine Larbalestier and Scott Westerfeld
Indigo Bookstore
Toronto, Ontario
Monday, October 27
7:00pm – 8:00pm
Yorkdale Mall
3401 Dufferin Street
October 25th, 2008 07:40
oh sweet # 1 and that sweet
October 25th, 2008 07:46
#2 this is the closest ive been to 1. This is so cooll!!!
October 25th, 2008 07:47
Anyway the viedo is really cool, kinda weird but cool.
<3 Nicole-la
October 25th, 2008 08:17
heh that’s cool. but the rat heart is kinda icky
October 25th, 2008 08:21
ooh, yay, early comment! that’s a pretty radical robot, but poor rat.
i got b to b yesterday and it’s very very good!!
October 25th, 2008 08:34
That is very cool. I can’t wait to read Bogus to Bubbly, and if I’m lucky enough I’ll have it in a half hour when I get to the post office.
October 25th, 2008 08:43
I really hope nanotech picks up sometime during my lifetime…preferably in regards to life extension treatments? *o*
Can’t wait to get B to B! ^_^
October 25th, 2008 08:46
OoOoOo
Fawesomeness
But I could have done without the rat heart tissue thing…*shudders*
October 25th, 2008 08:48
Nano-tech is awesome! I’m working on a comic book that has a lot of nano-tech in it. It’s not likely to be picked up by any publishers for a long time, so don’t expect to see it any time soon.
I can’t wait to read BtB! I should probably finish reading Specials and Extras before I read Bogus to Bubbly. I don’t know why I haven’t finished the series yet.
October 25th, 2008 08:53
Rat heart?
Definitely icy.
I wonder how this could develop, especially in my lifetime?
October 25th, 2008 08:57
I wish all the technology in Uglies already existed, even the pretty surgery, except the leisons that make you a bubble head is probably something we can live without. That is so weird that it runs on rat heart tissue or whatever. Reading B to B. I like the history.
October 25th, 2008 09:00
Number 10!
Bubbly!
If you read this Scott-sensei, well I’m sure you’ve heard it millions of times, but you are a brilliant author.
I’ve never got so caught up in a book – or a character (Tally) which was sometimes dangerous but always icy.
(And I finished each in one day so my mind wasn’t so wired by the books when I was around people again.)
But I think the trilogy and Extras are a work of genius.
And the books really made me think, which I love, and they inspired me too.
Thanks for stringing words.
October 25th, 2008 09:10
altho this has been said a million times, I WANT A HOVERBOARD!! plus med spray, because fall over a lot and I don’t like bleeding all over the place, so it would be nice to just instantly heal
October 25th, 2008 09:15
I WANT A HOVERBOARD!!! Why the heck are people working on nanotechnology instead of hoverboards? WHY, I TELL YOU WHY???? (this is not to say that nanos aren’t really cool, it’s just that hoverboards are cooler)
October 25th, 2008 09:26
OOOH!
Med spray would be so fawesome… I have scabs all over…and they fall off, it’s nasty and takes FOREVER to heal
October 25th, 2008 09:27
The concept of hoverboards is tres cool, I’d love for them to come about soon.
I have not yet gotten my hands on Bogus to Bubbly (waiting for a babysitting job to come along) but I can’t wait to read it, especially to see the hoverboard diagrams. I’ve created many pictures in my head of the hoverboards, but I want to understand the details of the boards… exactly how Scott-sensei figured the boards to work, especially the Special’s boards.
October 25th, 2008 09:28
My friend Kayla, well…actually HER friend Hannah made a sort of seat connected to a leaf blower and she was light enough that she could sit on it, but it only moved as far as the extension cord would let it…:(
October 25th, 2008 09:39
That is amazingness incarnated. Rat’s heart tissue? Pure genius.
October 25th, 2008 09:39
Well that’s a start. I’m sure the technology of a hoverboard isn’t that ridiculous. Just the right people need to come up with the right way to make it… or I don’t know if there’s ever a right way, but the better way at least.
October 25th, 2008 10:00
shweet! I remember reading that chapter. Awesome stuff, scott!
October 25th, 2008 10:07
Yay, B to B was in the mail so I finally have it! Actually, judging by all the mail there was it probably came in yesterday.
October 25th, 2008 10:41
Totally cool, I’m definitely seeing potential.
October 25th, 2008 11:00
Whoo for the false-nanobot!
Speaking of BtB, I loved Scott-la’s reference to LOLCats… That site is awesomely hilarious. I get on GaiaOnline, and they have LOLCat items for your items… Cieling Cat, Monrail Cat, etc. It’s pretty hilarious.
But I still dont get the who walrus and the missing bucket thing.
October 25th, 2008 11:23
If they are technically not nanobots… does that make them millibots?
October 25th, 2008 11:27
Cool nanos. A little weird for the rat heart thing. It’s really interesting how Tally’s city works. It’s just one big field test to see who gets the brain lesions and who doesn’t. I’m on a budget unfortunately so can’t get B2B now. It’d make a very bubbly Xmas present tho’.
October 25th, 2008 11:54
thats cool i dont see anything gross with the rat heart but whatever…
October 25th, 2008 12:30
OMG MY NAME IS IN THE BOOK! (BUBBLY TO BOGUS) OMGOMGOMGOMGOGMOGGMGOMGOMGOGMGOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *freaks*
^.^
October 25th, 2008 13:20
oh, Scott-la?
I wasn’t sure if it’d be Scott-la or Scott-Sensei or Scott-sama…
October 25th, 2008 13:52
Wow, that’s pretty much amazing.
October 25th, 2008 16:02
Nanotechnology always makes me think of Prey by Michael Crichton. XD
October 25th, 2008 17:47
never heard of that book. Is it good?
October 25th, 2008 22:37
sparky bit-over-milli-bot!
ive read prey! it was ok. pretty interesting.
julie-wa, what about scott-dono
u kno, im not gonna see b2b for a while :’( …
October 26th, 2008 01:23
What’s it, Prey, about?…I think my friend might have mentioned it on ce, but I don’t remember it…
October 26th, 2008 01:23
*once
October 26th, 2008 05:12
we just finished our lab about nanotechonolgy i scence and the whole time i thought about Tally’s World
October 26th, 2008 05:15
Hi, Check out the photos of my new emo hair style
on http://tinyurl.com/6y6u6s
October 26th, 2008 06:24
Nice hair.
October 26th, 2008 06:43
#38 cool, so thats WEIRD i mean, really WEARD
October 26th, 2008 06:44
#39 well,38 is closest i’ve ever got and still WEARD
October 26th, 2008 06:45
o ya, tally&zane, ur in the dedication
(btw, david’s better than zane!)
October 26th, 2008 06:52
Ya, I know…hehe, it made me feel special. LoL. *scoffs* Zane all the way.
October 26th, 2008 07:50
Team David all the way ^_^
Not that I have anything against Zane, honestly.
October 26th, 2008 07:58
I think i am going insane. (not that i was totally sane before) I am trying to write this story but i dont even know how to start it. This is driving me up a wall!!! URGGGG!
October 26th, 2008 08:47
COOL!!!
that was one of my fav chapters too!
its amazing how fast nanotech is growing;D
TEAM ZANE!
October 26th, 2008 09:32
wow!!! i’ve missed like 2 posts!! stupid shoulder!!! if anyone cares i seperated my shoulder playing softball, of course! ya…dove after a fly ball and landed right on it, but the dumb thing is that it was during practice not a game (i guess u practice like u play…o well) so i’m in a sling for 3 weeks and it’ll tke 6 weeks to heal.
ok so that nano thing is EMO-mazing (hehe…my cousin and i use “emo” in front of adjectives. it’s fun!! guess Scott’s not the only one who can make up slang words. hehe) seriously though that’ll be something that’s gonna change the future! sweet!!
btw BOGUS TO BUBBLY IS ALSO EMO-MAZING!!!! i got it 2 days early!!!! totally icy!!!!
GREEN DAY!!!! <3
Hey mister where ya headed?
Are u in a hurry?
i need a lift to happy hour,
Say oh no!
Do u brake for distilled spirits,
need a break as well.
The well that inibriates guilt.
Say 1,2,1,2,3,4!!
October 26th, 2008 10:56
Bran-la, good luck with your writing.
I know how you feel.
I’ve started, or outlined or developed many stories but never finished one. I either get writer’s block or come up with a new bubbly idea and the others get left in the dust.
I’m trying to finish one >. I’m surprising myself and trying to stick with it.
Just relax and breath.
I rarely write chapters in order but you don’t want to write too ahead.
Maybe develop your characters, setting, plot or whatever a little more before you actually apply them and discover your story.
I don’t really know, but just some guessing advice.
Good Luck!
October 26th, 2008 12:13
Okay, well, I have a similer problemo with my short story for english class. I started writing it just fine, but let’s just say that i have issues ending it. So now the last sentance(s) is “And so Phil and Ana lived (not happily) ever after. For now.”
Cuz my story for english is kinda a prequel to the story that i WANTED to write but was a)too long b)kinda inappropriate c)was very confusing and d)was still way too long, well, cuz of those things, the prequel doesn’t have too difinitive of an ending….actually, it ends with Maria being murdered, Phil going to jail, and Ana going to live with her sister Jessica. Let’s just that that there are WAY more murders in the REAL story. lol. But would my english teacher let me hand that in? nope. why? cuz it was four times the maximum length. And it wasn’t finished. But whatever. I’ll live. But I still might hand in the original story and suffer the consequences of it being too long….aka loosing up to 10% on the assignment. Whatever.
October 26th, 2008 12:31
I really want to study abroad for my junior year in high school….
I want to go to Poland or Finland or Switzerland.
Has any one else been a exchange student?
October 26th, 2008 12:57
*Makes weird high pitched noise*
Why can’t MY school have an exchange program!???!!!???!!!? *whines*
October 26th, 2008 12:58
Wait….you get points off if the story is too long???
October 26th, 2008 12:59
hold on…emphasis…LONG?!?!?!?!?!?!
October 26th, 2008 13:12
wow… and btw, thanks for listing my name in the dedication for B to B! for that, u r now my favorite author again!
October 26th, 2008 13:19
yes, i get points off my story if it’s too long. and mine is WAY too long. let’s just say that there has to be a limit on these things cuz the teacher has to mark 108 of ‘em.
October 26th, 2008 13:20
OMG, OMG, OMG……MY FRIEND (the new girl at my school) JUST BOUGHT “UGLIES” TODAY AND NOW SHE’S GONNA READ IT!!!! *does happy dance*.
October 26th, 2008 13:56
my cousin is going to read it(once I finish my novel project
so she can use it)
October 26th, 2008 13:58
i had to make a deal of sorts with my friend though…she doesn’t care for reading much (at least she didn’t before she discovered that i was the only sane person at my school) and so she only reads one book for every fifteen that i read. i can probably read ’bout five books by monday….from there i’ll keep reading……and she will too, cuz by the time i finish all fifteen, she’ll of had to finish one. it’s not like i’m gonna read LONG books though….600 pages max.
October 26th, 2008 14:51
my friend HATES reading
she think IM the loser because I read so much
even though she is like the only one(besides my other friend
who can’t really read at all) at our school that doesnt read
actually most people I know read except her and shes calling me
the loser that makes me very angry
but ya I probably could read 15 books in a short amount of time but I dont like to read them that fast cause then
I have to go out and find new books
(plus buy them… hate library books)it gets pricey
October 26th, 2008 15:06
I was like living in a bubble thinking everyone read for fun for a while…
I was in Global class and reading because I finished my work earlier. Someone said something like “if that your summer reading?” I just shook my head and they were like “they why are you reading it?” I’m sure my eyebrows shot up high and I told them I just liked it.
Even my English teacher was surprised I read books she didn’t assign. I think that’s really sad…
But I do have some friends who read around as much as I do, I think…
October 26th, 2008 15:13
So tired. Wow…hum. Nice injury TYC! Woo! LoL, that’s the spirit! Good luck with writing peeps. I got offered to go to England or Scottland as an exchange student last year but my mother wouldn’t let me. Too far away she said…Lets just say, I read more books than anyone of my teachers or friends or family can keep track of.
October 26th, 2008 15:35
why oh why is everything i want so dammed expensive? my friends and i went shopping today, and we saw these FAWESOME goth dresses and skirts for Halloween, but they were all over a hundred dollars. I did get nice spider-patterned fingerless gloves though…
AND A SOLAR-POWERED LIGHT-UP ITACHI KEYRING!!!!
(not an otaku, seriously)
October 26th, 2008 15:36
I’d do anything to be an exchange student!!!
Too bad your mother wouldn’t let you, my parents are hardly considering the idea when I toss it in front of them.
October 26th, 2008 18:28
hi there!:)
October 27th, 2008 00:25
okay, there is no other word but stupid for the act of idiocy i am guilty of commiting. Okay, so this morning, I sat down at the breakfast table and said “where’s the newspaper?”…then my parents looked at me like i’m a TOTAL IDIOT and said “andrea…..the newspaper people are on strike…they have been for two weeks”…..then i’m all “WHAT?????” then they said “did you not notice that we haven’t had a newspaper for nearly three weeks?” and i’m all “ummm…no.” yeah. I felt mildly very stupid. yeah. i know that sometimes i CAN be stupid, but i never thought that i was THAT idiotic. hmmmm….maybe it would be a GOOD idea to pay some degree of attention to the world around me……NOT!
October 27th, 2008 01:02
I bought b to b yesterday and omg when i saw my name in the first row i was so happy!! Thank you so much Scott!! now all those people that think i am to obsessed can suck it! cause following something you love does pay off
October 27th, 2008 04:16
Ok so you know how someone here said “Dont be a Llama vote for Obama.” Well i was like, well since we cant vote im going to make a new rhyme. So here it is. And its AWESOME!
Dont be a Llama make your mama vote Obama!
Is that like awesome or what!?
October 27th, 2008 08:11
what seriously??? the newspaper people are on strike??? where? not everywhere right? cuz we still get a paper. are the big publications on strike too? like the The New York Times and all those??? i’m so confussed. i’m pretty sure they aren’t though because i work on my school paper and my teacher would have mentioned it.
did u guys know there is this new thing called a Kindle and it’s pretty kewl. it’s this little thing that you can download books on to in 60 seconds and for a lot less money than buying one because it doesn’t waste paper and all that. my mom saw it on Oprah and she freaked… she was like “wow! i need to buy one of those for you!” and it would be really kewl but i think i would rather have a camera so now i might be getting a digital SLR for christmas!!!!!!!!!
for those of you who don’t know what that is it’s a professional photography camera! and i am pretty much crazy about them. so if everything goes as planned it will be a very good christmas for me! 
if anyone wants to check out the Kindle heres the website: http://www.amazon.com/Amazon-com-kindle/dp/B000FI73MA and if anyone is going to buy it or beg their parents to buy it then they should go to Oprah’s website and get the code cuz if you buy in the next few days you can get $50 off.
October 27th, 2008 09:18
Tally&Zane: uh…THANX!!!! my injury is pretty sweet (especially when u have to type up a science project that u should’ve started last week, but didn’t start until the night before it’s due and u can only type with one hand!!) ok…not so much fun then, but other than that it’s pretty cool.
Andrea-la: hmmmmm…3 weeks w/o notcing u didn’t have a newspaper…u really must be in ur own little world.
October 27th, 2008 10:18
ok. i think the parentals have finally lost it.
WE”RE GETTING A PUPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
a black lab. like, seriously? those things get to be like, 85 POUNDS! 85!!!
so yeah. im happy… and worried… and really really confused right now…
-Lizzy-wa OUT!
October 27th, 2008 10:36
lizzy-wa ur never here! a BLACK LAB! SEIRIOUSLY!!!!!!! i LOVE DOGS (puppies RULE!!!!!!!) (: l; ):
October 27th, 2008 10:37
and that nano thing…still weird
October 27th, 2008 10:51
wow rat heart tissue? ewww!! but that’s very cool & strange.
October 27th, 2008 10:52
Um, Kay-wa, I do believe the strike’s in Canada. Ha, I SAW THAT ON OPRAH! LoL…long story, I don’t actually watch Oprah but I was flipping through the channels and I heard something about backpacks weighing over 60 pounds and I’m like MINE TOTALLY DOES! And so I watched a little bit of it. But yeah, mine does weigh that much. Which is like over half my weight.
October 27th, 2008 10:53
Oooh! PUPPIES ARE SOOOO AMAZAZING! My sister’s dog is having puppies and when she does I get to have one! She’s a basset hound!
October 27th, 2008 11:05
I am EXCITED times infinity to see you and Justine tomorrow!!! Be prepared for some hardcore Canadian fans!!!!
October 27th, 2008 11:24
I JUST FINISHED REVELATION! I know, i just read it but i did all in one day and it was AWESOME! I cant wait till Paradise Lost. I want to know what happens! (does little dance in chair!)
October 27th, 2008 11:36
ugh. i have officially given up on attempting to get to toronto. mostly cuz my parents have both said that they wont drive me and that there is no way that i’m allowed to take a plane by myself. my mom said that usually she would of loved to go to toronto with me, but not when i’m supposed to be at school and she’s supposed to be at work. ugh. whatever….i’ll live….espcially since now this means that i have more time to read. yeah. hmmmm………for some reason, my friends think that i’m weird just cuz i insist that the sky in my world is purple….
October 27th, 2008 11:50
hym i havent really ever looked up in my world…i dont know what the sky looks like…
LUCKY!
i missed what they came to CA=.[
o well
my back pak is like 100lbs!
yeah that was random but i saw Tally&Zane said something about backpacks
i dont think mine’d wiegh so much if i didnt carry around so many books(1 for me, 1 for a friend who might of fgotten thiers, another 1 for me incase i dont feel like reading that other 2…u get it)
NOTE TO SELF:put EMO in front of adjitives(or how ever u spell it)
October 27th, 2008 12:40
oh my gosh…..my mom just lectured me about how i need to get my social studies mark higher…i mean, it’s just 75%…and this is mid-term and i haven’t gotten to write any essays yet. I mean, that’s the only reason that i ever get good averages, it’s just cuz of my essays. I mean, i pretty much suck at doing every-day assignments and then i’ll fail any test that invovles the memorization of dates….I mean, i got 67% on that test…so what? it’s just one stupid social studies test. whatever. I’m sure that my math mark will make up for it. I mean, my math mark can’t be less that 96% at the moment….and it would be higher if only i decided to “show my work”. Yeah right. I don’t show my work cuz there’s now work to show cuz i didn’t need to put in a bit of effort to get the answer. gosh. i get marks off cuz i’m good at math…what has the world come to?
October 27th, 2008 23:51
I know! Showing work in Maths is so hard, cos the questions r so easy!
YAY it be my bday on the 28th! (tomozza!)
October 27th, 2008 23:53
Good…for you, Andrea-la.
I really loved the nanobots that were used for cam-cams in Specials. I mean, they wouldn’t be that good a pic, but ….handy. Imagine what I could do with one of those….*drools*
Ahem.
Enough fantasies of cheating on tests, now Holly!
Peace,
Holly=Sensei(Top1000,duh!^^)
October 28th, 2008 04:30
(I read the first two Midnighters yay!) I can’t wait to get bogus to bubbly, I’m dying, and this post was awesome.
In a weird way.
October 28th, 2008 07:07
*frowns* Toronto is so far away. I could fly there, but that would be a longggg uncomfortable plane ride.
October 28th, 2008 10:48
toronto is kinda far away….Scott-la should come to winnipeg.
October 28th, 2008 11:01
Scott-la already came to CA and i missed it=.[
Jay-wa:YAY!im not the only one!i wasnt sure if i was like, the last person on the planet to read midnighters
i dont like Soc.St.
ok, i like the geography part
but historical dates are BOREING!
October 28th, 2008 12:44
hhhmmm… where’s Toronto?
we think we’re gonna name the puppy Jax!
-Lizzy-wa OUT!
October 28th, 2008 13:41
I wish Scott-la could come to Missouri! I’d drive anywhere in the state to get all of my books signed and meet his awesomeness.
October 28th, 2008 13:50
GRRR. And I just realized he was in KC
That is really depressing, lol. Oh well. There will be other times.
October 28th, 2008 13:55
Toronto is 22-26 hours by car away from where i am this second. I don’t know how far away by plane. It’s in Ontario, right? I was in an American school system in grade five when people apparently learned these things…which might explain why i am so pittiful in social studies. Whatever. I think I’ve been to Toronto before….can’t remember….oh well……
October 28th, 2008 14:16
My gosh that nano-creature looked weirdly cute. o_O Yes I have a weird perspective, but anyway, love reading your blog Mr. Westerfeld. Almost every entry is awesome, and really fresh. I’m not even sad to say you make my day every time you post. Hope you guys have a good day. Sorry for breaking your Toronto chain. Haha. Bye~
October 28th, 2008 14:17
Whoops not nano-creature. Milli-creature, but whatever.
October 28th, 2008 15:15
Jay-wa I so totally know the feeling … about bogus to bubbly …
WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
I’m so hyper atm
October 28th, 2008 15:28
i know Bran-la! the ending was so crazy! i never would have expected it! and they better be okay! …if Reed and Josh are not okay i am not going to be too happy! …but now that Josh knows that Reed was drugged to sleep with Dash things will hopefully go back to how they were before with Reed and Josh cuz they were really good together! and i’m dying for February to get here too! so have you read Last Christmas yet? it was good… not really what i expected. Ariana is really pretty messed up.
Lizzy-wa your so lucky!!!! i want a puppy!!!
November 2nd, 2008 03:05
“The bubblehaed nano act in pretty much the same way,except the don’ attack cancer-they target certain areas of the brain, creating bubblehead lesion-( i tried to type the rest but…i am lazy. you can’t blame ME Scott…I didn’t change the gender of a character because it was easier to type!!!although i probably would if i were you…hehe…)eventually the nanos will be able to recreate the bubblehead effect.(Don’t try this at home)”
Of cousre not. No homemade bubblehead operations for me.then.*sighs* just when i thought i could control-ahem,HELP!!my brother.sigh.
November 15th, 2008 12:49
i cant wait to get btob!! that video was cool but.. creepy. Heart tissue!
yea
October 27th, 2009 00:06
My friend tell me hundreds of Filipinas are on sites like Adult Friend Finder giving their Yahoo address and having American men send them money to do all kinds of sex acts on cam even pre-teen girls. Sending their money thru Western Union Pay Pal and Xoom and committing all kinds of sin for money.
Is this tragedy true?
February 24th, 2011 07:06
tell me some long adjitives
February 29th, 2012 00:22
This pessimist gripes around the wind turbine; these optimist should expect the application to switch; and also the realist changes the sails. We have to allow finite let-down, nonetheless we’ve got to in no way drop limitless pray.