Accept
it or not, text messaging plays a vital role in your life. It is the most
commonly used way of communication. Also, it is a simple and convenient way to
contact other people and is suitable whether you have ordinary mobile phones or
smart phones. “Globally, 8.6 trillion text messages are sent each year and there are over 68.7 million text users.” (Portio Research,
2013) However, since text messaging originally uses electronic signals to
function, there are places that these signals were not suitable or simply do
not work. Thus, sending text message is limited and this is where the problem
starts. But, you should not worry anymore because in this dilemma, there is a solution
called molecular communication signals.
Text messaging which is also called Short
Message Service (SMS) is a form of communication used to send short electronic
text messages and received on another mobile phone over a network. It is
designed with maximum of 160 characters. There is a recent discovery made by
researchers in Canada
about sending text message in a different medium. They had sent the world’s
first text message not using electronic signals but using chemicals.
Molecular
communication is the use of chemical signals to carry and send information. Chemical
signals could be used at both macroscopic and microscopic levels therefore it
could be used in nano-scale devices. Also,
it is a possible way of transmitting information underground or underwater. It
uses small amount of energy to generate.
It works in any place making it ideal for many functions where
electronic signal is absent.
With
these characteristics, scientists from Canada were able to send the
world’s first text message through molecular communication signal using vodka. Nariman
Farsad and Andrew W. Eckford from the York
University in Toronto ,
Canada and Weisi Guo from
the University
of Warwick in the UK
“The set-up is consists
of a transmitter, a transmission channel and a receiver. In this case, the transmitter is an
electronically-controlled liquid spray gun of rubbing alcohol. The receiver is
an electronic alcohol sensor capable of detecting the chemical signals in the
air. Lastly, the channel is simply the air between the two with the use of a
tabletop fan placed behind the transmitter. The
chemical signal, using the alcohol found in vodka, was sent four meters away
with the aid of a tabletop fan. Then, it was transformed by a receiver which
measured the rate of change in concentration of the alcohol molecules.” (First
Text Message Sent By Molecular Communication)
The researchers
were able to send the message by controlling the alcohol molecules’
concentration. They spray alcohol in five bit sequences. Then, the sensor
senses the alcohol and an electronic signal generates and changes the
concentration. This response is
interpreted and decoded using the code that Farsad and his co-researchers
invent. “A single spray represents bit 1 and no spray represents bit 0.” (Farsad,
2013) After the response was decoded, it
was then transmitted in letters. Then,
the system was reset to receive the next signal until they came up with the
message ‘O Canada’.
The researchers see the use of this technology in
robotics and medicines. It can also be used in challenging environments such as
places where there is no electronic signal.
According to Dr. Weisi Guo, “Potential targeted applications
include wireless monitoring of sewage works and oil rigs. This could prevent
future disasters such as the bus-sized fatberg found blocking the London sewage networks in
2013, and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010.
“They can also be
used to communicate on the nanoscale, for example, in medicine, where recent
advances mean it’s possible to embed sensors into the organs of the body or
create miniature robots to carry out a specific task, such as targeting drugs
to cancer cells.” (Guo, 2013)
This discovery made
by the researchers will have a great impact on today’s science and technology.
With the aid of molecular communication signals, sending text messages in
challenging environment will now be possible. Application of this discovery to
different fields will result to a more advance technology. This also shows how
science and technology have further developed people’s way of living. Imagine,
from the day we used smoke as a signal then carrier pigeons up to electronic
signals, we now discover the potential of molecular communication signals in
sending messages through chemicals.
References:
Caula, Rodrigo, 2013. "Text messages sent with vodka using molecular
communication." designboom architecture design magazine text messages sent
with vodka using molecular communication Comments.
http://www.designboom.com/technology/text-messages-sent-with-vodka-using-molecular-communication-12-27-2013/
(accessed February 16, 2014).Farsad, Nariman, 2013. Weisi Guo, and Andrew Eckford. "Tabletop Molecular Communication: Text Messages through Chemical Signals." PLoS ONE 8, no. 12 (2013). http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0082935 (accessed February 15, 2014).
"First Text Message Sent By Molecular Communication." Medium,2013. https://medium.com/the-physics-arxiv-blog/fe2f57c9139a (accessed February 20, 2014).
Kelly, Heather, 2012. "OMG, the text message turns 20. But has SMS peaked?." CNN. http://edition.cnn.com/2012/12/03/tech/mobile/sms-text-message-20/ (accessed February 20, 2014).
"Text message using vodka: Molecular communication can aid communication underground, underwater or inside the body." Text message using vodka: Molecular communication can aid communication underground, underwater or inside the body. http://phys.org/news/2013-12-messages-molecules-aid-underground-underwater.html (accessed February 20, 2014).
Wiener-Bronner, Danielle, 2013. "No cell phone signal? Text your friends via vodka." No Cell Phone Signal? Text Your Friends Through Vodka. http://news.msn.com/science-technology/no-cell-phone-signal-text-your-friends-via-vodka (accessed February 16, 2014).
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