Technology keeps making things smaller, but this is ridiculous. Scientists at Rice University in Houston have just made a tiny submarine with a molecular motor. They call it a unimolecular submersible nanomachine (USN), because it is composed of a single molecule made up of 244 atoms. The really smart bit comes from how it is driven: when the molecule absorbs a photon of light, one of the bonds that holds it together becomes more flexible, and the tail spins a quarter of a rotation to attach to another atom and reach the preferred lower energy state. This motion moves the molecule, and the process repeats. This happens millions of times a second.
I wouldn’t put down a deposit on a nanosub quite yet, though: the motion is random, as there is no way to steer the molecule at present. The researchers figured out that it behaves this way by analyzing the way that the molecule diffuses, because these molecules diffuse 25 per cent quicker with the light source than without. Nope, not very practical, but it is a neat bit of molecular hackery.
fuck yes the diamond age is coming
Quadrature molecules?
I wonder if FAH simulations would help.
Flagellum in the real world, made by the Master Designer:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flagellum
Anything useful starts with something that works but is pretty useless.
mass produce these things. Put it in a large clear container of water and give it a slight stir to get them all pointing in the same direction.
The light makes them move around and keeps the water rotating. Put it in space and use the energy to generate power.
That seems to be the most inefficient solar energy collector possible. :-)
What about separating charge directly with the absorbed photon? Oh wait – that’s called photovoltaics and exists already.
They have so little mass they’d never keep the water moving from newton’s third law alone. (the only way for a boat to move the water it’s in) If you want energy in space, use a solar panel. If you want to spin things, use it to spin a reaction wheel.
“unimolecular submersible nanomachine (USN)”: And if the United States Navy starts using them, they’ll be USN USN.
Hah! And if they name each individual molecule, they are going to run out of names rather quickly. “I christen this ship the USN USN Bob the eleventy hundredth”
We all live in a nanosubmarine. Nanosubmarine. Nanosubmarine.
You just made my day :)
Wow, a trolling motor for a sperm!