These smart robots are smaller than a grain of salt

autonomous: Acting independently. Autonomous vehicles, for instance, pilot themselves based on instructions that have been programmed into their computer guidance system.

biotechnologist: A scientist who uses living cells to make useful things.

cell: (in biology) The smallest structural and functional unit of an organism. Typically too small to see with the unaided eye, it consists of a watery fluid surrounded by a membrane or wall. Depending on their size, animals are made of anywhere from thousands to trillions of cells. Most organisms, such as yeasts, molds, bacteria and some algae, are composed of only one cell.

clot: (in medicine) A collection of blood cells (platelets) and chemicals that collect in a small region, stopping the flow of blood.

code: (in computing) To use special language to write or revise a program that makes a computer do something. (n.) Code also refers to each of the particular parts of that programming that instructs a computer’s operations.

computer processor: Also known as microprocessors, these are small electronic devices (computer chips) that help to run computers and other electronic devices. Each takes in some type of data or signal. Then it responds to this “input” by sending out some new signal, known as the “output.” Such processors can calculate or do any of many different specialized tasks. 

computer program: A set of instructions that a computer uses to perform some analysis or computation. The writing of these instructions is known as computer programming.

current: (in electricity) The flow of electricity or the amount of charge moving through some material over a particular period of time.

development: (in engineering) The growth or change of something from an idea to a prototype.

diagnose: To analyze clues or symptoms in the search for their cause. The conclusion usually results in a diagnosis — identification of the causal problem or disease.

electric current: A flow of electric charge — electricity — usually from the movement of negatively charged particles, called electrons.

electricity: A flow of charge, usually from the movement of negatively charged particles, called electrons.

electrode: A device that conducts electricity and is used to make contact with the non-metal part of an electrical circuit, or that contacts something through which an electrical signal moves. (in electronics) Part of a semiconductor device (such as a transistor) that either releases or collects electrons (negative charges) or holes (positive charges) — or that can control their movement.

engineer: A person who uses science and math to solve problems. As a verb, to engineer means to design a device, material or process that will solve some problem or unmet need.

field: (in physics) A region in space where certain physical effects operate, such as magnetism (created by a magnetic field), gravity (by a gravitational field), mass (by a Higgs field) or electricity (by an electrical field).

force: Some outside influence that can change the motion of an object, hold objects close to one another, or produce motion or stress in a stationary object.

information: (as opposed to data) Facts provided or trends learned about something or someone, often as a result of studying data.

liquid: A material that flows freely but keeps a constant volume, like water or oil.

microorganism: A living thing that is too small to see with the unaided eye, including bacteria, some fungi and many other organisms such as amoebas. Most consist of a single cell.

microscopic: An adjective for things too small to be seen by the unaided eye. It takes a microscope to view objects this small, such as bacteria or other one-celled organisms.

organism: Any living thing, from elephants and plants to bacteria and other types of single-celled life.

particle: A minute amount of something.

processor: (in computing) Also called a central processing unit, or CPU, it’s a part of the computer that performs numerical calculations or other types of data manipulation. It can also be a type of software, or programming, that translates some other program into a form that can be understood by the computer running it.

propulsion: The act or process of driving something forward, using a force. For instance, jet engines are one source of propulsion used for keeping airplanes aloft.

robot: A machine that can sense its environment, process information and respond with specific actions. Some robots can act without any human input, while others are guided by a human.

sensor: A device that picks up information on physical or chemical conditions — such as temperature, barometric pressure, salinity, humidity, pH, light intensity or radiation — and stores or broadcasts that information. Scientists and engineers often rely on sensors to inform them of conditions that may change over time or that exist far from where a researcher can measure them directly.

solar: Having to do with the sun or the radiation it emits. It comes from sol, Latin for sun.

solar cell: A device that converts solar energy to electricity.

system: A network of parts that together work to achieve some function. For instance, the blood, vessels and heart are primary components of the human body’s circulatory system. Similarly, trains, platforms, tracks, roadway signals and overpasses are among the potential components of a nation’s railway system. System can even be applied to the processes or ideas that are part of some method or ordered set of procedures for getting a task done.

tar: A thick, viscous black flammable goo derived from coal or wood. It consists of a range of hydrocarbons, resins, alcohols and more.

technology: The application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, or the devices, processes and systems that result from those efforts.