Gifts and Gadgets

According to Professor Tour this development is a watershed in so far as constructing successfully a nanocar represents the first step toward molecular manufacturing. Professor Tour avers: “It’s the beginning of learning how to manipulate things at the nanolevel in nonbiological systems.”

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.

Read all about it at physorg.