Hitachi is watching our money

But in a good way, I assure you. The company has just developed a chip that is small enough to be embedded in materials such as paper, and that features wireless circuitry for security purposes. At the moment, Hitachi envisages the .4mm chip playing

But in a good way, I assure you. The company has just developed a chip that is small enough to be embedded in materials such as paper, and that features wireless circuitry for security purposes. At the moment, Hitachi envisages the .4mm chip playing a massive role in detecting counterfeit money, thus allowing some form of authentication unit to detect real money.

The chip features 128 bits of Read Only Memory, and small RF transceiver that can transmit up to 12in. The implications are wide; not only can money be scanned for authenticity, but if the readers themselves were Net-enabled, then money can be tracked across the country. Chips could be placed into often stolen items, built into the very casing or hidden in some other way, to allow stolen property to be tracked.

Clothing could be chipped, leading to instant recognition of like-minded individuals thanks to a small personal profile embedded on your 'dating chip'. Pets can be remotely tracked, thus forever proving which dog is crapping on whose lawn. And while we've been able to track creatures like sharks and elephants, now, at long last, we can trace the migratory habits of the humble earthworm. Oh, technology, is there nothing you cannot do.