A key technological breakthrough led by the University of Edinburgh suggests that a futuristic world where people can move objects without physical force but ?remotely? with laser pointers could be closer than we think. Chemists working on the nanoscale (80,000 times smaller than a hair’s breadth) have managed to move a tiny droplet of liquid across a surface – and even up a slope – by transporting it along a layer of light-sensitive molecules.

Their pioneering use of nanotechnology involved shifting a tiny droplet of a substance called diiodomethane, a thick, oily liquid, up a 12-degree slope against the force of gravity. This is claimed to be the small-scale equivalent of a conventional machine lifting an object twice the height of the world’s tallest building.

The Herald UK

Many scientists have made laboratory molecules move in a controlled way but the Edinburgh team are the first to use this technology to interact with everyday objects.

Professor David Leigh, the team’s principal researcher, said: “It is the first time molecular machines have managed to talk to the real world.”

Their breakthrough could mean that lifting things becomes unnecessary in the future, and a world where people can shift objects about remotely, using laser pointers, is less the stuff of sci-fi movies and more the stuff of reality.

The research team has developed a surface that is covered with synthetic molecular “shuttles”, which has been likened to Teflon.
The components of these shuttles move up and down by a millionth of a millimetre when exposed to light. After most of the shuttle molecules change position, this prompts a change in surface properties and this in turn moves the droplets.

Nanotechnology involves manipulating molecules in order to change the larger structures of which they are part. Scientists say it will provide advances in computing, medicine, and manufacturing.

However, nanotechnology is not without controversy. Although the Prince of Wales publicly denied reports last year that he thought the world could be reduced to grey goo by an army of self-replicating nanobots, he has remained cautious about the technology. He is reported to believe that nanotechnology could lead to something similar to the thalidomide disaster.

There are fears that nanoparticles could be spread easily by wind and water. Many worry that as the particles are so minute and unique in form, it is difficult to understand fully their implications yet.