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Liquid drop takes big nano step
By Jonathan Amos
BBC News science reporter, Dublin



A smart surface propels the droplet forward (scale 1mm)
Edinburgh scientists have made a small blob of liquid move across a surface by shining a light in front of it.

It may not sound like much but the molecular engineering that went into this feat is said to be a step forward in the emerging area of nanotechnology.

The trick is in tiny "machines" about a millionth of a millimetre in size that coat the surface and propel the drop.

The team envisages this technology moving biological samples around a diagnostic chip to detect disease.

The researchers can also see their work leading to smart materials that change their shape at the flick of a switch.

Professor David Leigh, of the University of Edinburgh, said the demonstration was one of the first examples to show molecular machines integrating successfully with the macroscopic world.

"The components of these machines only move a nanometre but they are able to move the droplet by a whole millimetre.

"That's six orders of magnitude greater - equivalent to a piston moving a millimetre in the macroscopic world and being able to lift an object twice the height of the CN Tower."

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