Yeah I'm pretty sure I remember reading something in a pop science magazine 20 or 30 years ago when MEMS nano structures were all the rage and how they were gonna use mass arrays of them on airplane wings to somehow increase flow

Not uncommon to hear bold claims with every new and emerging technology that isn’t well understood by the media or general public. The excitement over nanobots seems to have run its course (for now?). Blockchain managed to find its way into every market imaginable. Battery technologies have consistently delivered bold claims on an almost yearly cycle, but we have at least seen incremental improvements. AI is obviously the worst offender in the current timeline.