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Letter: Tales of miniaturisation in science fiction

Published 17 June 2026

From Hilda Beaumont, Brighton, UK

I thoroughly enjoyed Annalee Newitz’s piece on biohybrid microrobots and how they can be steered using blue light or magnetic fields. Annalee references the 1980s’ movie Innerspace as a science-fiction precursor, but older readers might remember the 1960s’ movie Fantastic Voyage, starring Rachel Welch, which involved the miniaturisation of a submarine and crew that were injected into the body of an injured scientist to repair his brain. The narrative of the film was turned into a novel of the same name (30 May, p 19).

Issue no. 3600 published 20 June 2026

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