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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.

7 of 146 comments (clear)

  1. Let my Algae go! by Alystair · · Score: 5, Funny

    But the real question is if they can make tiny pyramids.

  2. TCP/OA by kevin_conaway · · Score: 5, Funny

    Old and busted: TCP/IP

    New Hotness: TCP Over Algae!

    1. Re:TCP/OA by QuantaStarFire · · Score: 5, Funny

      While your idea is sound in theory, how have you solved the problem of data loss from being eaten by marine life?

      Pinging yahoo.com [216.109.112.135] with 32 bytes of data:

      Reply from 216.109.112.135: bytes=32 time=31ms TTL=51
      Request eaten by trout.
      Reply from 216.109.112.135: bytes=32 time=31ms TTL=51
      Request eaten by salmon.

      Ping statistics for 216.109.112.135:
      Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 2, Lost = 0, Eaten = 2 (50% loss)
  3. Algae cargo carriers will be replaced by nanobots by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 5, Funny

    unless they get a strong union like the Teamsters.

    Just imagine a picket line of these guys ....

    --
    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
  4. Re:Just wait until they organize... by Tackhead · · Score: 5, Funny
    > > Recently, a team of scientists devised a way to make single-celled algae bear loads over distances of several centimeters
    >
    > Just wait until they organize... and go on strike. Can't you just see the little picket signs circling around the pond?

    Algae Shrugs!

    "To hell with with all multicellular organisms! They're all a bunch of looters and moochers!"

    (Also by the same author, Photosynthesis: The Unknown Ideal! and The Fountain-liner!)

  5. Interview by Horizon_99 · · Score: 5, Informative

    There is an interview with chemist George Whitesides, one of the authors of the paper in question, at sciencefriday.com for those interested.

  6. Some of you have missed the point entirely by gt384u · · Score: 5, Informative
    It's not a matter of "Gee, what is this good for?" If you explore more of Whitesides' research, a lot of his work is very much in the realm of 'proof-of-concept'. I've had the pleasure to hear him speak before on his research in self-assembly and it's astounding what some of the systems his students have devised can do. Check his research out here. The one project that astounded me in particular was self-assembly of functioning electronic devices using nothing but hydrophobic interactions. Wickedly cool.

    To be honest, this particular piece of research is almost a footnote in his career. Most of the things he does will never end up in something the average person ever comes into contact with, but the salient ideas will change the landscape of technology 20 years down the road. If you're at all interested in nanoscience, this is a guy to watch.