Nanoscale Rope: Complex Nanomaterials That Assemble Themselves

Article

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have coaxed polymers to braid themselves into wispy nanoscale ropes that approach the structural complexity of biological materials.

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Berkeley Lab scientists have developed a nanoscale rope that braids itself, as seen in this atomic force microscopy image of the structure at a resolution of one-millionth of a meter.

Their work is the latest development in the push to develop self-assembling nanoscale materials that mimic the intricacy and functionality of nature's handiwork, but which are rugged enough to withstand harsh conditions such as heat and dryness.

All I can really say is, Wow!

A rope at the nano-scale level. This is still very new and in its early stages, but I cant wait to see what will come next. Heres what the article says that these ropes may be used for.

Perhaps they'll be used as scaffolds to guide the construction of nanoscale wires and other structures. Or perhaps they'll be used to develop drug-delivery vehicles that target disease at the molecular scale, or to develop molecular sensors and sieve-like devices that separate molecules from one another.

This leads me to think that these "ropes" may be the building blocks of other structures that may be built at the nano level. What kind of structure? Im not really sure at the moment, but like the article says, they could help in developing "vehicles" that can target diseases. I wonder what these vehicles would look like?

Heres what the articles says about how these ropes self-assemble themselves.

Specifically, the scientists created the conditions for synthetic polymers called polypeptoids to assemble themselves into ever more complicated structures: first into sheets, then into stacks of sheets, which in turn roll up into double helices that resemble a rope measuring only 600 nanometers in diameter (a nanometer is a billionth of a meter).

I dont really know what exactly some of the terminology means, but it sounds cool!

It gets even better. The scientists can control the atom-by-atom makeup of these ropes.

In addition, unlike normal polymers, the scientists can control the atom-by-atom makeup of the ropy structures. They can also engineer helices of specific lengths and sequences. This "tunability" opens the door for the development of synthetic structures that mimic biological materials' ability to carry out incredible feats of precision, such as homing in on specific molecules.

So you have polymer compounds in jet fuel, nanoscale ropes possible, and morgellons disease being reported in higher and higher numbers. I guess it's still conjecture, but I welcome any validity to the nature of people's ordeals.

That sounds like it's straight from the future. If the public is hearing about stuff like this that scientists can manipulate at an atomic level and can assemble themselves, just imagine the crazy stuff that is kept secret. I bet our governments have the technology to teleport, read minds, control people's bodies, and do all sorts of other wacky crackpot things like that.

reply to post by TupacShakur


I can only imagine what is being kept secret from the public. We have nano-ropes, they might have nano-ladders? The list can go on and on what I suspect they could have. I wonder what we will have in the next 10-20 years.

If we were a benevolent people, I would be overjoyed at such an accomplishment.....but knowing how evil people can be, I can just think of the harm that will be done with this new nano-technology. and it doesn't take many evil people to accomplish a diabolical scheme....i see this technology being used in biowarfare to potentially plant nanobombs or nanodevices which targe specific bodily organs.....or with developments in neuroscience targeting brain cells in order to dumb down a population or perhaps make them more subserviant.....man in his quest for power and world domination may have found it in the very technology described here...

I picture terminator type technology coming soon to a country near you! This is scary stuff, especially with IBM releasing that bomb about their massive leap in AI...