As I was reading the BBC website I came across a fascinating article on nanotechnology. Not science fiction nanotechnology or ‘pseudo’ nanotechnology, in other words a miniaturised device. No, this was the real thing!

A motor that was made of a single molecule or just 18 atoms! And the molecule is …..

….. Butyl methyl sulfide: CH3 – CH2 – CH2 – CH2 – S -CH3

The motor works by rotating around the sulfur atom (up to 120 revolutions per second) – the sulfur atom acts as the pivot. Electrical charge can be used to cause individual molecules to rotate and these can be watched in real time using an scanning tunneling microscope.

Click here to read the full article.