Oct 21
Using the parts inside a single molecule, scientists have constructed the world’s smallest car. It has a chassis, axles and a pivoting suspension. The wheels are buckyballs, spheres of pure carbon containing 60 atoms apiece.
This is neato. (Thanks, Dennis.)
This technology is just so beyond me that I can’t even wrap my head around it. Amazing.
wonder what the horse power is on it…
1 nanohorsepower ?
When are these scientists gonna stop dicking around and actually do something practical with nanotechnology?
Yeah, it’s real easy to make nano machines. Maybe they’re trying to figure out how this stuff actually works. Don’t be a dick.
I assume you didn’t read the article, Sentinel.
What’s the point? Nanotrucks, of course.
Eventually the researchers want to build tiny trucks that could carry atoms and molecules around in miniature factories.
“We’d eventually like to move objects and do work in a controlled fashion on the molecular scale, and these vehicles are great test beds for that,” said James Tour
And we cant cure cancer. This is freaking great. Lets make itty bitty trucks for itty bitty factorys, for what, to produce itty bitty t-shirts, made by itty bitty asians. Lets start using technology to do something truly usefull.
We cant do anything useful with it yet. And saying that they should just do something useful is like building an apartment building on plain old dirt. Yeah it will be done sooner, but it will be unstable and collapse.
@ The Beast:
These nano trucks could be used to move around the parts of the molecules that make up the nano cancer cure. That’s what they’re referring to when they say that the things are for miniature factories. This will enable the scientists working on the cancer cure to better manipulate what they are working on.
Saying that this is pointless is like saying making robots for automated car assembly lines is pointless, and we should just make the cars, never mind that the robots are a great jump in quailty of product and speed of production. At this point (to my knowledge anyway) scientist have little or no tools that make for easy manipulation of atoms, these nano cars, and other similar things, would be the tools that can let the process continue smoothly. It’s not like the people doing this are doing it for their own entertainment, it looks to me like they are making tools for further advancements.
Just my view on things however, I could be total wrong here.
Great, with a few hundred years, every person a president. Everyone will have there own little colonies of nanopeople building appartment buildings, and erecting 50 story skyscraper office buildings. Thats not a mole, thats just the nanodome. Forget the fact your body is smoldering, thats just the nanofog.