Nanotechnology Harnesses the Power of Light

madirish2600 writes "There's a Washington Post story running about some German scientists who have used light to create a nanotechnology spring. 'Scientists have for the first time used the power of light to create mechanical energy for a microdevice, making a single molecule of plastic drive a tiny machine.'"

Comments

The designers should get with Rube Goldberg

[Zen Mastuh]

Slightly off-topic, but imagine the merging of this technology with the whimsical, counter-intuitive machines of Rube Goldberg. The nanosprings could be combined with nanoballs, nanochutes, nanoratchets, nanopteradactyls, etc... to fabricate imaginative contraptions that would only be visible to high-power microscopes.

Now they can make all sorts of cool stuff

[Astrorunner]

Like shockabsorbers for nanocars.

Retractable ball-point nanopens.

And perhaps the best, what rolls down nanostairs, alone or in pairs, the nanoslinky.

Info about Nanotechnology...

[dwheeler]

Presumably many readers know a little about nanotechnology, but in case you're looking for beginning information about it, here are a few places to look:

1. Nanotechplanet's Nanotechnology FAQ
2. Foresight's FAQ about Molecular Nanotechnology
3. Richard Feynman's ``There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom'' (an old classic that essentially started the field).
4. Engines of Creation (by K. Eric Drexler, Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1986)

Memory

[jhines0042]

By shining one frequency of light on the device, the team was able to crimp the molecule, causing it to pull the diving board downward - converting light into mechanical energy. When another light frequency was used, the molecule relaxed.

Not quite sure, but if the molecule stays in the kinked or relaxed state absent all light, could they not mount little mirrors on top that would swivel and then use this tech as a massive, persistent, extremely fast, storage mechanism? Sort of like a re-writeable CD but in solid state?