Article: Tense encounters drive a nanomotor.(PHYSICS)(Brief Article)

Walking on water is a miracle for people, but it's no sweat for some insects. The key for the bugs is surface tension, the cohesive forces of the liquid's surface molecules that are strong enough to support tiny weights. Now, researchers in California have found a way to exploit the powerful force of surface tension on small scales to make an extraordinarily hardworking nanomotor.

The motor is one of the oddest engines around. Its primary components are two minuscule molten blobs of the metal indium, kept at 400[degrees]C to 500[degrees]C, clinging like dewdrops to a kind of carbon wire known as a nanotube (SN: 9/18/04, p. 180). Roughly 200 nanometers across, the ...

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