Tiniest Machines Win Nobel Prize

Three scientists, Bernard Feringa, Jean-Pierre Sauvage and Sir J. Fraser Stoddart, have won this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Watch the video to find out more.

First read the assignment. Next watch the video. Take notes to help you do the assignment.

1. The reporter speaks of “molecular machines pulled from the pages of science fiction”.
   Explain the meaning of the underlined phrase.
   What example of this kind of science fiction does he give?


2. The Nobel Committee honoured the three scientists “for transforming science fiction into fact”.
   Explain the underlinded phrase.


3. How tiny are the molecules that form the building blocks of these very small machines?


4. Name a possible application of these nanomotors.