Abstract: Provided among other things is a method of affixing a small, single chip to a plastic item, the chip having a top surface having length and width dimensions, and having a height, the method comprising: (1) vacuum adhering a top-oriented surface of the chip to a probe of outer dimensions comparable to or smaller than those of the length and width; (2) conveying heat to the chip via the probe such that a bottom-oriented surface of the chip is sufficiently hot to melt the plastic; (3) applying via the probe the chip to the plastic such that the chip embeds in the plastic; and (4) releasing the chip from the probe, wherein the largest of the length and width is about 500 microns or less, and height is no more than about the smallest of length and width.

Abstract: Provided is a method of synthesis comprising: (I) providing separate reaction sequences to TABs; (II) utilizing reaction vessels configured to react a separate combinatorial building block with a moiety on a surface of a TAB; and (III) operating one or more TAB sorters comprising a TAB reader, a sorting tree comprising valves or switches and sorting nodes, and a monitor configured to detect TAB location, wherein the operating comprises serially conducting: (a) reacting distinct combinatorial building blocks in the reaction chambers with surfaces of TABs distributed in the reaction chambers; (b) operating a controller to operate the TAB sorters to segregate the TABs to allocations appropriate for the next assigned reaction, the operating including recycling TABs with ambiguous identity back through the sorter; and (c) repeating steps (a) and (b) as needed to complete 30% or more of the assigned sequences.

Abstract: Provided are methods and apparatus including an injector system adapted for injecting a microchip comprising: an inserter comprising a rod or tube having a proximal and distal end and having a point at the distal end that defines a skin-piercing side of the inserter; a means for engaging the microchip near the distal end of the inserter, but removed in the proximal direction from the distal tip of the inserter, which means prevents rotation of an engaged microchip in two or three axes of rotation; and means for releasing the microchip from the inserter once the inserter has been inserted into a perforatable substrate.

Abstract: Provided are methods and apparatus including an injector system adapted for injecting a microchip comprising: an inserter comprising a rod or tube having a proximal and distal end and having a point at the distal end that defines a skin-piercing side of the inserter; a means for engaging the microchip near the distal end of the inserter, but removed in the proximal direction from the distal tip of the inserter, which means prevents rotation of an engaged microchip in two or three axes of rotation; and means for releasing the microchip from the inserter once the inserter has been inserted into a perforatable substrate.