Bigger is certainly not better when it comes to the world's first single-molecule electric engine, which measures in at one nanometer wide -- for perspective, that lash hanging from your left eye is around 60,000 times larger. Single-molecule engines have been used for years, but the new method uses a low-temperature scanning tunneling microscope to power and control the molecule more effectively. In the future, scientists could use the technology for things like lab-on-a-chip devices, miniature medical testing equipment that require a motor to push fluid through tiny pipes. Tufts researchers responsib
