parad0x writes: "This article in Nature describes researchers at the University of Washington in Seatlle developing molecular robots which can produce maps of microscopic structures and devices with extremely high revolution, at times exceeding the abilities of conventional microscopes."
proofreaders drinking on the job again?
by
KnightStalker
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· Score: 2, Funny
devices with extremely high revolution,
Cool! High-res maps of propellers in motion!
-- * And remember, it's spelled N-e-t-s-c-a-p-e, but it's pronounced "Mozilla."
Self-propelled nanobots?
by
Guru1
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· Score: 2, Interesting
To create self-propelled nanoscale robots, Vogel's team reversed nature's arrangement. By fixing kinesin molecules all over a surface, wormlike microtubules propel themselves randomly all over the surface. By attaching a fluorescent dye to the microtubules, the researchers can follow where they go - and where they don't.
While I understand the bull is a lot smaller, the actual light & movement from these new nanobots seems to be a much more utilitarian view of nanotechnology.
Re:Interesting yet incomplete
by
Negadecimal
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· Score: 2
It would have been nice to see the article compare this to the latest technologies in STM (scanning tunneling microscopy).
It doesn't compare. These images are film/CCD captured. What these guys have done is to put flourescent molecules on proteins that "walk" down microtubules. So instead of just seeing the whole microtubule skeleton at once (which you could do with a specific stain), you see a version that "develops" as the proteins traverse it. Yea.
Re:omg,..is anyone not amazed about this?
by
Negadecimal
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· Score: 2
i noticed that no one has commented about these nanobots
Well they're not really nanobots... at least not in the sense that they're manmade, capable of motion, or even controllable.
What these guys have called nanobots are nothing but tiny fragments of microtubules. They "move" about the cell by being pushed around by kinesin proteins coating the membrane surface...kind of like surfing across a big mosh pit.
Our cells contain kinesin molecules that blindly "walk" down the length of microtubules, moving cargo from one part of a cell to another. If anything, these are the real nanobots, since they actually do the moving.
This is molecular biology. Very neat molecular biology, to be sure. But it has nothing to do with nanotechnology. If you call this stuff "nanobots", then your big toe is mostly composed of nanobots.
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Cool! High-res maps of propellers in motion!
* And remember, it's spelled N-e-t-s-c-a-p-e, but it's pronounced "Mozilla."
To create self-propelled nanoscale robots, Vogel's team reversed nature's arrangement. By fixing kinesin molecules all over a surface, wormlike microtubules propel themselves randomly all over the surface. By attaching a fluorescent dye to the microtubules, the researchers can follow where they go - and where they don't.
h tml.
Anyone else notice the slight jump in nanotechnology? Just a few months ago scientists were excited because someone had made a very small bull: http://www.nanotechnews.com/nano/997993091/index_
While I understand the bull is a lot smaller, the actual light & movement from these new nanobots seems to be a much more utilitarian view of nanotechnology.
It would have been nice to see the article compare this to the latest technologies in STM (scanning tunneling microscopy).
It doesn't compare. These images are film/CCD captured. What these guys have done is to put flourescent molecules on proteins that "walk" down microtubules. So instead of just seeing the whole microtubule skeleton at once (which you could do with a specific stain), you see a version that "develops" as the proteins traverse it. Yea.
i noticed that no one has commented about these nanobots
Well they're not really nanobots... at least not in the sense that they're manmade, capable of motion, or even controllable.
What these guys have called nanobots are nothing but tiny fragments of microtubules. They "move" about the cell by being pushed around by kinesin proteins coating the membrane surface...kind of like surfing across a big mosh pit.
Our cells contain kinesin molecules that blindly "walk" down the length of microtubules, moving cargo from one part of a cell to another. If anything, these are the real nanobots, since they actually do the moving.
This is molecular biology. Very neat molecular biology, to be sure. But it has nothing to do with nanotechnology. If you call this stuff "nanobots", then your big toe is mostly composed of nanobots.