John_Stone Report This Comment Date: October 22, 2005 10:00PM
----------------------------------------------------------
Rice scientists build world's first single-molecule car
----------------------------------------------------------
'Nanocar' with buckyball wheels paves way for other molecular machines
Rice University scientists have constructed the world's smallest car -- a single
molecule "nanocar" that contains a chassis, axles and four buckyball
wheels.
The nanocar consists of a chassis and axles made of well-defined organic groups
with pivoting suspension and freely rotating axles. The wheels are buckyballs,
spheres of pure carbon containing 60 atoms apiece. The entire car measures just
3-4 nanometers across, making it slightly wider than a strand of DNA. A human
hair, by comparison, is about 80,000 nanometers in diameter.
Other research groups have created nanoscale objects that are shaped like
automobiles, but study co-author Kevin F. Kelly, assistant professor of
electrical and computer engineering, said Rice's vehicle is the first that
actually functions like a car, rolling on four wheels in a direction
perpendicular to its axles.
Kelly and his group, experts in scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), provided
the measurements and experimental evidence that verified the rolling
movement.
"It's fairly easy to build nanoscale objects that slide around on a
surface," Kelly said. "Proving that we were rolling - not slipping and
sliding - was one of the most difficult parts of this project."
To do that, Kelly and graduate student Andrew Osgood measured the movement of
the nanocars across a gold surface. At room temperature, strong electrical bonds
hold the buckyball wheels tightly against the gold, but heating to about 200
degrees Celsius frees them to roll. To prove that the cars were rolling rather
than sliding, Kelly and Osgood took STM images every minute and watched the cars
progress. Because nanocars' axles are slightly longer than the wheelbase - the
distance between axles - they could determine the way the cars were oriented and
whether they moved perpendicular to the axles.
In addition, Kelly's team found a way to grab the cars with an STM probe tip and
pull them. Tests showed it was easier to drag the cars in the direction of wheel
rotation than it was to pull them sideways.
John_Stone Report This Comment Date: October 22, 2005 10:00PM
The blue arrow just shows direction of movement, it's not part of the nanocar.
Anonymous Report This Comment Date: October 23, 2005 03:41AM
Great, now let's get some rice tuner to lower it and put a ghetto exhaust tip
and a wing on it.
Tiw Report This Comment Date: October 23, 2005 09:40AM
Interesting concept. I wonder if they can make a mocelular flying machine.
John_Stone Report This Comment Date: October 23, 2005 10:03AM
@90130, Dude, you just KNOW that someone will jack it up and put a thumpin'
nano-bass system in it...
Tiw: From what I read, they are a long way off from building nano-flying
machines... but these days, a "long way" could be just two years. I
recall reading some paranoia fantasies in the early days of nanotech when Eric
Drexler was still considered top of the field... he was saying that nano
development should be done openly, otherwise creepy shit will be developed for
military outfits. One particular fantasy supposed a 'cloud' of nano-flying
machines that would move in an infect an enemy camp... entering their
blood-stream and killing them weirdly... freaky thoughts. I still think we're
a long ways off from that.... so like 2008 or so.
Anonymous Report This Comment Date: October 24, 2005 03:50AM
weird
