Nanotech Development

Nanotechnology is developing slowly but it is progressing, possibly heralding a new age of incredible advances. A new device has been created which functions a little like a pair of pliers, the opening and closing action in turn causing a pair of pedals to move. It might not sound like much of an accomplishment but we're talking about machines built on a molecular scale here.

Both science and science fiction have long imagined that such tiny contraptions would one-day produce awe-inspiring results - whether as artery cleaning nanorobots or out-of-control producers of grey goo.

However, the mechanics of molecular machines is extraordinarily complex. It relies on the dynamics of chemical bonds and nanoscale forces, as apposed to the relatively straight-forward engineering principles at work in large-scale mechanical devices, like cars. Furthermore, magnetism becomes more important than gravity, and the strongest "welding" is a chemical bond that can be ripped open by nearby molecules.

But perhaps the biggest challenge is that the devices are not usually built one molecule at a time. Instead machines such as this new one are produced by a series of chemical reactions in solution that assemble billions of billions of units at a time.