Autonomous robot plays with NanoLEGO
Molecules are the building blocks of everyday life. Many materials are composed of them, a little like a LEGO model consists of a multitude of different bricks. But while individual LEGO bricks can be simply shifted or removed, this is not so easy in the nanoworld. Atoms and molecules behave in a completely different way to macroscopic objects and each brick requires its own 'instruction manual.' Scientists from Jülich and Berlin have now developed an artificial intelligence system that autonomously learns how to grip and move individual molecules using a scanning tunneling microscope. The method, which has been published in Science Advances, is not only relevant for research but also for novel production technologies such as molecular 3-D printing.