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Scientists Create World's First 'Molecular Robot' Capable of Building Molecules (scienmag.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the nano-bots dept.

New submitter re385 shares a report from Science Magazine: Scientists at The University of Manchester have created the world's first "molecular robot" that is capable of performing basic tasks including building other molecules. The tiny robots, which are a millionth of a millimeter in size, can be programmed to move and build molecular cargo, using a tiny robotic arm. Each individual robot is capable of manipulating a single molecule and is made up of just 150 carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen atoms. To put that size into context, a billion billion of these robots piled on top of each other would still only be the same size as a single grain of salt. The robots operate by carrying out chemical reactions in special solutions which can then be controlled and programmed by scientists to perform the basic tasks. In the future such robots could be used for medical purposes, advanced manufacturing processes and even building molecular factories and assembly lines. The research will be published in Nature on Thursday 21st September. "All matter is made up of atoms and these are the basic building blocks that form molecules," explains Professor David Leigh, who led the research at University's School of Chemistry. "Our robot is literally a molecular robot constructed of atoms just like you can build a very simple robot out of Lego bricks. The robot then responds to a series of simple commands that are programmed with chemical inputs by a scientist. It is similar to the way robots are used on a car assembly line. Those robots pick up a panel and position it so that it can be riveted in the correct way to build the bodywork of a car. So, just like the robot in the factory, our molecular version can be programmed to position and rivet components in different ways to build different products, just on a much smaller scale at a molecular level."

4 of 86 comments (clear)

  1. Galaxies like grains of salt by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    "millionth of a millimeter in size" = 10^-9 m (diameter of the machine)
    " billion billion of these robots piled on top of each other" = 10^-9 x 10^9 x 10^9 = 10^9 m (size of a grain of salt according to the article).
    Or alternatively, as UK defines "billion" according to the long scale, the grain of salt is 10^-9 x 10^12 x 10^12 = 10^15 m in diameter.

    1. Re:Galaxies like grains of salt by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Or alternatively, as UK defines "billion" according to the long scale, the grain of salt is 10^-9 x 10^12 x 10^12 = 10^15 m in diameter.

      It's a long time since that definition of "billion" was in common use here in the UK.

    2. Re:Galaxies like grains of salt by michelcolman · · Score: 3, Informative

      Well, it's a pile, not a stack, they don't have to be exactly on top of each other. One bot is 10^-27 m^3. A billion billion of those would be 10^-9 m^3 which is 1 mm^3. That's a big grain of salt, but not quite as far off.

  2. Re:First Gray Goo! by null+etc. · · Score: 3, Informative

    3....2.....1

    Actually, the age of the universe is 10^18 seconds. A grain of sand contains 10^20 atoms. If a nanobot created one atom per second, it would take 100 times the age of the universe to construct a simple grain of sand.