btw, http://frazer.rice.edu/nanotech = "my class"
ck On Tue, Oct 25, 2005 at 05:09:19PM +0530, Udhay Shankar N wrote: > CKelty, have you run into these folks? > > Udhay > > http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=14095&hed=The+Buckymobile+is+Born > > The Buckymobile Is Born > > Researchers at Rice University have built a > one-molecule car, complete with working chassis, axles, and wheels. > > October 21, 2005 > > Rice University scientists have constructed a car > a little wider than a strand of DNA, complete > with rotating wheels, functioning axles, and a chassis. > > The design details of the worlds smallest > vehicle will be published in a future edition of > the journal Nanoletters, according to a statement issued Thursday. > > Scientists working on single-molecule machines > with a mechanical function have created molecules > that resemble motors, switches, turnstiles, > gears, gyroscopes, and even elevators. > > While other groups have created single molecules > shaped like automobiles, these have moved by > slipping and sliding across a surface. > > In contrast, the Rice University nanocar has > carefully designed carbon-rich sections of the > molecule that provide a pivoting suspension and freely rotating axles. > > Its wheels are hollow spheres composed entirely > of carbon atoms, known to chemists as > buckminsterfullerenes (named for the inventor > Buckminster Fuller), or buckyballs for short. > > Out for a Test Drive > > This means that the nanocar functions much like a > real automobile, moving forward at an angle of 90 > degrees to its axles as its wheels turn. > > Wed 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 M. Tour, the Chao Professor of > Chemistry and professor of mechanical > engineering, materials, and computer science at Houstons Rice University. > > Proving that we were rollingnot slipping and > slidingwas one of the most difficult parts of > this project, said Kevin F. Kelly, assistant > professor of electrical and computer engineering. > > The car is approximately one twenty-thousandth > the width of human hair. Therefore, the > researchers had to prove it could roll on its > wheels using a highly sensitive microscope called > a scanning tunneling microscope. > > They took pictures with the microscope every 60 > seconds to follow the cars progress over a > heated gold surface and then pulled the car > backwards. The latter test showed it was easier > to drag the nanocars in the orientation that > their wheels rolled, as opposed to pulling them sideways. > > The Rice University group has also made a > nanotruck capable of carrying some cargo, albeit tiny loads. > > The National Science Foundation, Welch > Foundation, and Zyvex, a Richardson, Texas-based > nanotechnology company, funded the research. > > > -- > ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com)) >
