Nanocars

The Mini is small, the iPod nano is smaller, but the recently test driven nanocar beats them all out. At 3x4 nanometers, a million of them lined up bumper to bumper would measure about the length of a flea.

The cars are formed by adding four C60 carbon molecules to a rigid H-shaped chassis made of carbon atoms linked into rigid rods. To be sure that the little assembly was a car and not a sled, scientists pulled the vehicle in perpendicular directions. When they observed forward/backward movement and no lateral movement, they knew the wheels were rolling.

All that now remains is to outfit them with nano-engines and there could soon be nanotrucks and nanotrains moving materials for nanoconstruction. Nano-sweet.

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