This is a scientific Americans 60 second science. I'm Steve Mursky. Got a minute?

This year's Nobel Prize in chemistry is about the world's smallest machines.

Jern Hansen, Secretary General of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences earlier this morning.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry jointly to

Jean-Pierre Sauvage, Sir James Fraser Stoddart and Bernard L. Ferringhah, for the design and synthesis of molecular machines.

Salvage was born in Paris and is now an emeritus professor at the University of machines. in Illinois. Farinha is from the Netherlands and is at the University of Roninging.

Following the announcement, Farinha called in and explained some of the potential applications

for the microscopic machines.

First of all, let me say, I feel a little bit like the Wright brothers who were

flying a hundred years ago for the first time and then people were saying you know why

do we need a flying machine and now we have a Boeing

747 and an Airbus so that is a bit how I feel but once you are able to

control movement you have a motor you can think of all kinds of functions so indeed we think

of transporters like in your body there are many motors and machines that make

it possible that yourself divide that your missiles work, that it is transport in the cells, etc.

But you can think also which broader, think about nano machines, microrobot, think about tiny

tiny robots that you the doctor in the future will inject in your blood things and that go to search for a cancer cell

or are going to deliver a drug for instance. But also smart materials,

for instance, materials that can adopt change depending on an external signal.

Just like our body functions.

That is the kind of functions you can think of.

Thanks for the minute.

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