Smarter in 60 Seconds: Nanotechnology

The smallest car in the world is made of just a single molecule, but it does have four wheels. However therein lies the problem: “So far we haven’t been able to mount the wheels so they will all turn in the same direction,” says developer Ben Feringa, an organic chemistry professor at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. That comes down to chance, so research is ongoing. The car is propelled by individual electrical pulses of about half a volt, which push the car forward 0.7 nanometers per pulse— less than the length of the vehicle.