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One-Molecule Nanocar Takes a Test Drive
MrSeb writes "Just a couple of months after nanoengineers at Tufts University developed an 18-atom single-molecule electric motor, researchers from the University of Twente in the Netherlands have gone one better: They've made a car using just a single molecule. To create the vehicle, Tibor Kudernac and colleagues crafted a molecule with a long body and four 'paddle' (wheel) features attached at each corner. The molecule was created with a bottom-up process, where each part of the molecule is gently slotted together. By applying tiny amounts of electricity with a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) to the finished vehicle, the wheels are forced to make a quarter turn. The wheels naturally take another quarter turn to restore equilibrium — and then the STM starts the process all over again. The end result is very slow forward movement — six nanometers per 10 electric pulses."
Electric cars are a fad. Jeremy Clarkson told me that.
Single molecule nano hover car?
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
...for really short people.
Operation Guillotine is in effect.
You honestly think advances in nanomachines are pointless?
Attach a three atom knife to it with a suture gadget and send right into the heart for a by-pass
1 molecule does not imply that it is less than 18 atoms. From looking at the fucking article I can see that they have used much more than 18 atoms. Fuck this shitpost.
You have zero reading comprehension skills. The summary said they "did one better" because it's an entire "car" from a single molecule, as opposed to just a "motor" from a single molecule.
The motor was indeed made from 18 atoms. It was butyl methyl sulfide. 13 + 4 + 1 = 18 atoms. The car just incorporated these molecules into a different larger molecule. Why the hate on nanomachines?
Where does TFS say the "car" is made of less than 18 atoms?
It is pretty cool, IMO. Similar stuff has been done before, but I didn't know of any cars where the wheels actually provide the propulsion. Then again, I am no expert in the field, by far.
I think this is the actual article(paywalled), in case anyone else is wondering about the details & has access to the journal.
Not at all. Have you seen the parking fees in town lately? This product serves a real need. Now you can drive to work on a molecule, and keep it in your pocket during work hours. Moreover, it's eco-friendly. I'm told molecules run on electricity.
Imagine roller skates that look like regular shoes, with millions of these things spread over what looks like a flat sole of the shoe.
The CB App. What's your 20?
Where do you store the millions of STMs that you need to run them?
General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
Where do you store the millions of STMs that you need to run them?
In the millions of molecular trunks, of course.
I bow before your nano-awesomeness
General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
This is one of the least offensive sketches from Jam but it still contains bad language and is NSFW.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzquCGpuIsQ
The actual show is probably Not Safe for Decent People but is awesome if you have a deviant sense of humor and can find a suitable time to laugh.
Someone will always want a bigger molecule. The longer, the better. Huge chains of atoms that demand more and more electric.
Why can't people be happy with what they've got?!?
This post contains benzene, nitrosamines, formaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide.
You mean they make a cool high tech nanocar but you still have to get out and push?
Bummer!
"You're driving like a bat out of Hades! You're gonna get us all killed!"
Sounds faster and more powerful than a Prius although seating may be difficult.
Come on, at one cell organism, it must have been shaped like a car, to come up with that crappy headline....seriously?
It can turn on a gene.
I'm not going to get excited about this until I see it reviewed on Top Gear. I bet the Stig could get it up to at least 9 nanometers per 10 electric pulses.