Nov 24, 2011

                                             Nanotechnology at its best!

This can be seen as a massive breakthrough in the field of nanotechnology. A group of Dutch and Swiss scientists unveil world's smallest car made of a single and carefully structured moleculeThe molecule has four branches that act as wheels, rotating when a tiny metal tip applied a small current to them.With 10 electric bursts, the car was made to move six billionths of a meter.





The approach, published in Nature, joins recent single-molecule efforts, and seems to overcome the forces that often dominate at such tiny scales. The car runs on voltage that is supplied to it. The motor of the approach lies with the four "molecular rotors" that act as the car's wheels; they undergo a change in shape when they absorb the electrons. It raises the question, How small can the things actually get?


One Last Thing..
The big problems arising out of this small adventure is Firstly, the scientists admit that they are way off finding a practical use for such a small invention. Additionally, the experiment was conducted at temperatures of almost -450F in a vacuum. The next challenge is recreating the tiny car at room temperature.