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From 1966sThe Fantastic Voyageto Marvels upcomingAnt Man, weve spent decades entertaining ourselves with fantastical stories about sciences ability to make bigthings small, and small thingsextraordinary. Now, in a case of life imitating art, we may be poised on the cusp of a nano-revolutionthat breaks free from science fiction, and into the realm of science fact.

Writing in theAmerican Chemical SocietysACSNanoJournal, agroup of scientists from the University Of California, San Diegos Nanoengineering departmentannouncedthat, for the first time ever, they have successfully testeda series of orally-ingestedmicro-machineswhich self-propelinto the stomach liningof their living host a feat that, up until now, had only been accomplished on laboratory tissue samples.Explains the BBC:

The machines, made of polymer tubes coated with zinc, are just 20 micrometers long - the width of a strand of human hair.

In stomach acid, the zinc reacts to produce bubbles of hydrogen, which propel the machines into the lining of the stomach, where they attach.

As the machines dissolve, they deliver their cargoes into the stomach tissue.

Before you shudder at the ideaof an army of robots going to work in (and on)your stomach, keep in mind that the science has a ways to go before it reachesInnerspace-levels of sci-ficomplexity. Still,the development of edible, self-destructingnanites, capable of pin-point medicinalaccuracy inside a living body, representsa significant step towarda world where yourhealth isnt monitored and managedthroughwearable tech,but instead through ingestiblesmedical machinesworkinginsideyou, rather thanon your wrist.

Its a disquieting thought for some, but for doctors constantly on the lookoutfor new ways of effectively deliveringmedicine to where your body needs it most, this could very well be abreakthrough.

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Are These Self-Propelled Micro-Machines The Future Of Medicine?