Walking Molecule Now Carries Packages

I originally found this on slashdot:

Walking Molecule Now Carries Packages
Molecule walks in a straight line and carries a tiny shopping bag in each hand
(January 18, 2007)

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (www.ucr.edu) –- A research team, led by UC Riverside’s Ludwig Bartels, was the first to design a molecule that can move in a straight line on a flat surface. Now this team has found a way to attach cargo: two CO2 molecules, making the nano-walker a molecule carrier. The work will be published Thursday, Jan. 18 in “Science Express” and later in the print-version of the journal “Science.” “This is an unprecedented step forward towards the realization of molecular-scale machinery,” said Bartels, associate professor of chemistry and a member of UCR’s Center for Nanoscale Science and Engineering. “Our experiments show a means to transport molecules reliably. This will become as important to the molecular machinery of the future as trucks and conveyor belts are for factories of today.” (more)