Nanomachines may one day climb along your skin, swim through
your bloodstream, and fly through the air we breathe. While the
hazards of such miniature machines make rich cautionary science
fiction fodder, the benefits may also be great. While there have
been great advances in developing useful nanoparticles and tiny
nanodevices, the research into controllable platforms to deliver
these devices on lags behind. One such delivery platform is Rice
University's nanocar. James Tour a Professor of Chemistry,
mechanical engineering and materials science and computer
science at Rice, created the nanocar in 2005 spawning much
excitement and subsequent research. The car was made primarily
out of carbon and featured buckyball wheels. Later a paddlewheel
motor powered by light was added, and the old wheels were
swapped out for carboranes, which didn't trap the light energy
like the buckyballs did. Rice has created a number of variants
including nanotrucks, nanobackhoes and other models. Now Rice
has rolled out the new mod