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Algae Can Carry Cargo

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the dont-put-the-cart-before-the-single-celled-organism dept.

Steve Nixon writes "Recently, a team of scientists devised a way to make single-celled algae bear loads over distances of several centimeters--a tactic that the researchers say could prove useful in tiny machines. Algae and other single-celled organisms power their movements with molecular motors. 'Scientists have long coveted these motors for use in micromachinery,' notes chemist Douglas B. Weibel of Harvard University.

1 of 146 comments (clear)

  1. What about ants? by appugt · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Has anyone tried this with ants? Ants are known to be capable of carrying several times their own weight (witness the dead insects they cart around). Now I wonder, would a trail of sugar do...?