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parad0x writes:
"This article in Nature describes researchers at the University of Washington in Seatlle developing molecular robots which can produce maps of microscopic structures and devices with extremely high revolution, at times exceeding the abilities of conventional microscopes."
proofreaders drinking on the job again? (Score:2, Funny)
Cool! High-res maps of propellers in motion!
10,000 resolutions per minute. (Score:1)
1. Seattle. Not Seatlle.
2. Resolution. Not revolution. Unless you're referring to my freshman English teacher, spinning in her grave.
omg,..is anyone not amazed about this? (Score:1)
Re:omg,..is anyone not amazed about this? (Score:1)
Re:omg,..is anyone not amazed about this? (Score:2)
Well they're not really nanobots... at least not in the sense that they're manmade, capable of motion, or even controllable.
What these guys have called nanobots are nothing but tiny fragments of microtubules. They "move" about the cell by being pushed around by kinesin proteins coating the membrane surface...kind of like surfing across a big mosh pit.
Our cells contain kinesin molecules that blindly "walk" down the length of microtubules, moving cargo from one part of a cell to another. If anything, these are the real nanobots, since they actually do the moving.
Nanotechnology (Score:1)
Self-propelled nanobots? (Score:2, Interesting)
Anyone else notice the slight jump in nanotechnology? Just a few months ago scientists were excited because someone had made a very small bull: http://www.nanotechnews.com/nano/997993091/index_
While I understand the bull is a lot smaller, the actual light & movement from these new nanobots seems to be a much more utilitarian view of nanotechnology.
Interesting yet incomplete (Score:1)
It seems like STM's are not what is referred to as conventional microscopes, which makes sense, but it might be noteworthy that resolutions like those mentioned in the article are not particularly hard to achieve.
Re:Interesting yet incomplete (Score:2)
It doesn't compare. These images are film/CCD captured. What these guys have done is to put flourescent molecules on proteins that "walk" down microtubules. So instead of just seeing the whole microtubule skeleton at once (which you could do with a specific stain), you see a version that "develops" as the proteins traverse it. Yea.
Re:Interesting yet incomplete (Score:1)
I got that backwards. See my earlier post. Flourescent microtubule fragments are randomly pushed around on a fixed surface of kinesin.
artificial life? (Score:1)
so now you have a little piece of cell wall !crawling ! around.
So we construct a "self-propelled nanoscale robot" out of cellular material.
If we found something similar to these robots on another planet? Wouldn't we consider it, a simple form life?
Sheesh, I'm only 22, I'm going to see some f$@#ed things in my life.
folks, that's molecular biology (Score:3, Insightful)
Nature, feh. (Score:1)