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Now nanotechnology: a molecular machine

Alok Jha

DUBLIN: Scientists have built a molecular machine that can move objects millions of times larger than itself. The machine is 80,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair. The nanomachine could control the movement of drugs around the body so that they reached the exact point where they were needed. It could be employed in smart materials that could change their size or electrical conductivity at the flick of a switch. David Leigh, a chemist at the University of Edinburgh, built the machine by covering a gold surface with engineered rod-like molecules with rings that slide up and down on them. When bathed in ultraviolet light, the ring changes its position on the rod, affecting the surface tension of a droplet of water on the gold surface enough to move the droplet. He said the technology could be used for all sorts of physical tasks. —

© Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004

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