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'Nano-Machines' Win European Trio Chemistry Nobel Prize (theguardian.com)
Dave Knott writes from a report via The Guardian: Sir Fraser Stoddart, from Scotland, Bernard Feringa, from the Netherlands, and Jean-Pierre Sauvage, from France have won the Nobel prize in chemistry for developing "nano-machines," an advance that paved the way for the world's first smart materials. In living organisms, cells work as molecular machines to power our organs, regulate temperature and repair damage. Working separately, the Nobel trio were among the first to replicate this kind of function in synthetic molecules, by working out how to convert chemical energy into mechanical motion. This allowed them to construct molecular devices a thousand times smaller than the width of a human hair, including switches, motors, shuttles and even something resembling a motorcar. The advances have allowed scientists to develop materials that will reconfigure and adapt by themselves depending on their environment -- for instance contracting with heat, or opening up to deliver drugs when they arrive at a target site in the body.
War has changed.
NANOMACHINES, SON!
Feringa for Chemistry
" nano-machines", "world's first smart materials" etc!?
rather they are basically organic material like natural cells, on the same scale, doing similar things.
award is deserved because they are artificial and hopefully controllable and customizable.
but we should not forget, that we can also sometimes control natural cells and other organic material, with chemicals etc already.
anyway silly branding,buzz words, and hype, will only do disservice on the long run by creating false impressions.
Don't fuck with this senator!
Their entire intro to nano machines revolved around injecting a shrunken Dennis Quaid into Martin Short for slapstick comedy and emergency surgery.
Why are they letting luddites do science reporting?
and escaped from the lab through faulty air vents in a secret research facility somewhere in a Nevada desert.
Some of the most interesting science happening today and there's only 12 comments? If only we could work climate change or the short-fingered vulgarian into the headline....