Last week we wrote about a new concept for the Muadib, a “cruise ship” that’s made to cruise on top of desert sands. Today we have another one of Imaginactive’s newly announced concepts. I think this one might give some of you the shudders.

It’s called the Snefel. It’s a “medical vehicle.” It’s super mini. Super mini, as in…designed to sail through the human blood vessel system. I think most of you are thinking right now, “No thanks!”? The idea of robotic nanotechnology has been floated around for a while. But the idea of a tiny robot cruising through my blood vessels is totally unappealing. Let’s look at this more.

If someone has a Snefel inserted into their body, here’s how they would work. The Snefel wouldn’t just cruise around unaided for the rest of the patient’s life. It would be inserted, a doctor would guide it around, and then it would be removed. If it would be removed after a quick artery tour I might be OK with that. The Snefel would have unique proteins on it that matched those of its human host. These proteins, which make it look like a red blood cell, would mean that the body would not attack it.

The robot would be about the size of a white blood cell, which puts it in the range of 12 to 15 micrometers (µm). 15 micrometers i 0.000590551 of an inch. In comparison, a human hair is greater than 17 micrometers but usually smaller than 180 micrometers. Yes, the Snefel is small…and one primary reason is that they would be extra dangerous if they were used and got stuck in a blood vessel or somehow blocked one.

There are a three different functionalities of these Snefels. The functionality of the Biop model is that of a VR camera. The camera would transmit images to the doctor to be able to see where problem spots are or to be guided during certain procedures. Examples of where this micro-view would come in handy are delivering the embryo at the proper place during artificial insemination. Some surgeries would also be safer and done faster, if the surgeon had an “inside view” so to speak.

The functionality of the Skout model is that of a delivery robot. this one would contain a tiny dose of medicine that it would deliver right to its target when it was in the proper position. The Skout could hyper-target the exact spot, like a tumor or blood clot, that needs medicine, rather than giving it to the whole body. The Skout woould have a tail that would propel it similar to that of a tiny tadpole.

Finally, the functionality of the Subu model is that of construction worker. It would be used to repair blood vessels, dig through clots, collect blood samples, and study them to transmit information. The concept explains that the Subu would be perfect for hemophiliacs, diabeticss, or people at high risk for blood clots.

The Subu, unlike the others, would actually remain in the body. It would cruise around, on patrol, and when a problem is detected, it would either be able to fix it or call for help. How it would call for help isn’t explained. Maybe it was one of those “Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” necklaces? I kid. But, it would somehow summon either other robots that were already in the body to start the repair work or it would sound an alarm on the outside somehow.

Snefel Biop nano robot for the blood stream Snefel Skout nano robot for the blood stream Snefel Subu nano robot for the blood stream

New ideas were recently announced from Imaginactive, a company who creates prototypes of products that should exist but don’t. The other one of their products we wrote about was the Paradoxal, a concept for a commercial supersonic/hypersonic passenger aircraft that can fly Mach 3 in a suborbital trajectory.

Now they’ve come up with the Muadib. If you’ve ever read the Dune books, you probably already know where this is going…Think of the Muadib as a cruise ship but on sand. This “ship” was designed to cruise deserts or other vast expanses of open land. Tourists would be able to live in this “Cruise” ship” while on their vacations. They could enjoy the sights of the Sahara or Sonora Desert, for instance, while still retiring to their climate controlled room, cold meals, and on-board entertainment at the end of the day.

This ship, if you could afford it, would be the ultimate bug-out vehicle, because it would let you go to the remotest reaches of the desert or grasslands without sinking in. Solar panels would give you power. And a canopy could be extended over the ship to protect it from sandstorms and to provide shade. Gas could run its turbines, also.

Since you wouldn’t need your pools to be heated while in the desert, the Muadib would cool them down instead. Air conditioning, of course, would keep the internal air comfortable. The ship would be able to harvest water from the air conditioning unit…no need for a sweat and urine recycling body suit as in the Dune books…and the ship would even be able to dig for water under the earth’s surface. Designers created a grow room inside the ship where some of this water could be used to water food crops.

Since this is a luxury vehicle after all, the Muadib would have a star-gazing deck and panoramic observation platform. Because what’s the point of being all the way in the middle of nowhere if you can’t see anything! If you brought your ATV, drone, or small helicopter, it could be stored in the ship’s on-board garage until you were ready to go out for a spin.

The concept page of Imaginactive.org explains that this could be for luxury vacations or science expeditions, to take researchers to remote places where it wouldn’t make sense to build a permanent structure.

Please make it real.

Images from imaginactive.org

Muadib desert cruise ship Muadib desert cruise ship Muadib desert cruise ship

This company, Imaginactive, comes up with some of the coolest things we’ve ever seen. And maybe never will see. Because the things they come up with are strictly ideas but they are the coolest ideas ever. Take this,the Paradoxal. It’s a concept for a commercial supersonic/hypersonic passenger aircraft that can fly at Mach 3 in a sub-orbital trajectory between distant parts of the globe in a fraction of the time a normal place would take.

Check out the video the company made.

I’ll wait while you watch the video. Seriously.

The engine is a Rotary Ramjet air breathing engine, which I had to look up but is apparently an engine propelled by hot exhaust gases and expanded air. Rocket engines, by contrast are propelled by a jet of hot gases caused by fuel combustion. The Paradoxal would be able to fly from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia, in less than 3 hours, with 50,000-feet-high views of the Earth and space. From that far up you would be able to see the Earth’s curvature.

And you wouldn’t even have to jostle for a window seat. The Paradoxical has a large, theater-like room for passengers that faces forward to the long leading edge of the craft, so everyone would get a great view.

Please make it real.

Image from imaginactive.org