Those nanobots from ??~The X-Files??T are now a real thing - The Washington Post
On January 17, 1999, sci-fi fans tuning into their beloved "X-Files" were treated to a terrifying technological nightmare. At the beginning of the episode, Assistant Director of the FBI Walter Skinner becomes mysteriously ill. Black veins slowly spread across his body. The malady, it turns out, are microscopic machines in his blood.
"What the hell are they?" wonders his doctor. The answer: nanobots.
Sixteen years later, nanobots like the ones on "The X-Files" are now a real thing. And although the microscopic critters are still a bit creepy, scientists say the technology could have a hugely positive impact.
"The applications of this are just immense," said Vikas Berry, an engineer at the University of Illinois at Chicago who led the nanobot experiment. "You can use this in food storage or outer space research."
How, exactly, Berry and a team of six other scientists created the nanobots is complicated. But the basic building blocks are incredibly simple: bacteria and carbon.
http://www.nature.com/srep/2015/1503.../srep09138.pdf