How Machines the Size of Molecules Could Change the World

[@annaliseoconner9266]

This was one of the most intriguing SciShow topics I've seen in a while! Concise narration and graphics made it simple to keep up! Thank you for this insightful episode!

[@hardboiled7467]

Someday we can finally explain everything with "Nanomachines, son!"

[@j.hawkins8779]

Metal gear rising: revengence reference

[@SgtRooooster]

Yessssssssss I've been waiting for a video on molecular machines. Off to do a PhD in them in a few months.

[@roelepping]

Which group if I may ask?

[@maxime1997vdb]

About what specifically? Im currently taking a course in supramolecular chem and am very interested in it

[@SgtRooooster]

maxime1997vdb That's awesome :) The supramolecular course I took is what actually lead me to my masters project making photoswitchable cages, which after a dull degree of learning facts for exams :p actually motivated me to becoming a scientist again, after losing the spark. I'm going to be making various stimuli responsive cages. One of which will hopefully allow me to transport cis-platin and selectively release the payload at cancer cells. But because its supra I should be able to find a variety of applications. Thanks for asking! :D I hope your course gets you interested enough to maybe pursue research. Honestly, I think molecular machines could be one of the "cool" areas of science and specifically chemistry which could really get people interested. Like cosmology does for a lot of young physicists including a younger version of myself.

[@SgtRooooster]

Roel Epping The Hartinger group down in Auckland or potentially with James Crowley in Otago. Although I have acquired the position I still haven't completed decided which I'd rather go for. Coming from the U.K. it gives me a great chance to travel to a really foreign part of the world while pursuing my dream job. Are you currently doing a degree in the field? Or hoping too?

[@metanumia]

+Milkshake Man "Off to do a PhD in them in a few months" ...How are going to shrink yourself down that small to work on your PhD in a nanomachine? ;)

[@ChristiaanDurosukaBurger]

This! This is the cool future stuff I wanna see more of!

[@christophera4277]

We actually got a 2 hour lecture from the Nobel price winnerslast year. It was really interesting to hear how they overcame some of the hurdles and how the car actually looked and funktion. They also took up some possible applications for it in the future.

[@SgtRooooster]

Christopher A Yeh it definitely is great chemistry and if it was Feringa he's such a nice guy too.

[@maxime1997vdb]

Last year i attended a lecture of feringa as well in leuven, and it was amazing! Im currently taking a course about supramolecular chemistry so this video is so fun since its about what i learnt past semester

[@yvardietvorst]

Milkshake Man haha yeah, I'm from Groningen, the city where he works and I studied chemistry. Once I was working at burger king and I recognized him ordering a whopper or something and we had a very nice talk about this subject. Such a great and smart guy.

[@patrickmccurry1563]

My first thought was to help a bacteria commute to work faster. lol

[@FloozieOne]

In 1991 I did my graduating paper on nano-technology. It was incredibly difficult to find papers and research on this as it was basically a new field, but it was totally fascinating. Unfortunately I didn't end up studying this long-term but became a radiographer (X-ray tech) and went into a completely different type of physics. When I read about the progress made today in the nano field I often regret not staying with it, but I didn't graduate until I was 38 and a bit too old for all the years of study it would have taken just to get started. Today I can read about it an just marvel.

[@justajokeforme2854]

I still dont get why youtube algorithms recommends me videos from 2 years ago that I have already watched

[@artemkras]

Self-replicating molecular machines have already took over the world. That's us.

[@tommart9879]

Now imagine the following scenario. Highly evolved civilization designed molecular machines with one encoded purpose: multiply and improve. They then put them on a spaceship and sent them towards newly formed planet. Molecular machine started creating more and more complicated molecules. They learned how to start simple chemical reactions. Some machines specialised in one task and some in other. They started joining to be more self sufficient, improved. They used the most reactive elements as it was easy to start them reacting. Carbon was perfect for the task. Now, billions of years passed. The original civilization it's long gone. Molecular machines had grown in size. They now can do amazing things. Some of them, the most improved, can make reactions so powerful that they can leave the surface of the planet they are on. They even visited other space object, the Moon. They also came up with an idea: lets make some molecular machines!

[@LuaanTi]

Why do I feel the original civilization was killed by their utter disregard of the most basic nano-machine safety protocols? You _do not let the machines improve_. Bad idea, such a horribly bad idea. Either you have a self-improving system, or you have a self-replicating system. Both are dangerous enough on their own - for the love of all that is good, don't _combine_ the two approaches.

[@tommart9879]

Luaan viruses!

[@kennethsumerford3480]

The Creator made machines within cells and now humans study cell biology and nano stuff.

[@Vsemprivet75]

nerd

[@tommeng6522]

Water: Sorry, I can't be with you Oil: Is it because I am fat??? Water and oil: XD

[@gibranhenriquedesouza2843]

Oil: I will not walk in the same streets with water drops! Water: You are an hydrophobe!

[@Kreidark]

what a surprising episode haha every time i thought it couldn't get any further

[@darrylarthur5283]

Stephan you are an excellent host. thanks and shout outs to all the hosts of scishow. thanks to the patrons(wish I could afford it) and thanks to everyone that makes scishow possible! cheers from meaford Canada. love the show guys keep up the good work

[@acapellascience]

Y'all scooped me! Stay tuned...

[@Birb_boi243]

NANOMACHINES SON

[@jarehelt]

Eternal arsenal Lol make america great again senator! 😂😂

[@bennoble9178]

THEY HARDEN IN RESPONSE TO PHYSICAL TRAUMA

[@AlbinoTuxedo]

I was looking for this

[@taythree5549]

I think we're only going to achieve proper nanomachines when we can figure out how to control and dictate living cells or germs to do bidding. When we do that flawlessly will we will have true nanotechnology

[@GeoffPlays]

Keep up the good work Shane

[@TommoCarroll]

Well chemistry book, you failed us. MECHANICAL BOND!?

[@Master_Therion]

Someone tried to tell me that nanotechnology was going to be "the next big thing." I told him to stop being an oxymoron.

[@Pyriphlegeton]

Oxymoron literally means brightdumb. As in smartstupid. I love this word.

[@pegasusted2504]

Lol, I thought it was some sort of medication to get rid of stupid, like Oxy-10 gets rid of spots :~)

[@mrsqueakyvoice97]

Actually it means sharpdull

[@R41Ryan]

Love it.

[@eduardorochin7601]

Damn it, my carreer is engineering in nanotechnology lol

[@schtinky1151]

Jokes on you. I'm watching this on a projector, I'm not staring at a machine.

[@slumpkiid3570]

@Orion D. Hunter but he is viewing a wall

[@ryank1273]

@@slumpkiid3570 With the help of a machine!

[@slumpkiid3570]

@@ryank1273 Correct, but he is staring at the projection, not the machine itself ;)

[@ryank1273]

@@slumpkiid3570 Still...

[@slumpkiid3570]

@@ryank1273 Shhh, its okay my child, we can both be right, even if you're a little more right

[@OctorokSushi]

Man this was awesome, it boggles the mind to imagine being able to do something on such a small scale.

[@Friendly911]

This is amazing, it's like discovering a whole new world.

[@brandanclifford6676]

I wish I had friends like you guys. I've spent hours watching and learning and trying to talk to people about these vids and the ideas they may propose or show and nobody has the intelligence needed to have a great conversation. Not that there dumb but they don't find this stuff interesting at all.

[@numero7mojeangering]

Maybe one day we will be able to make a machine that creates the molecules we want like cells

[@ainnothin9854]

I like Stefan's voice and delivery style.

[@mau_victorino]

Woa! Full intro! That's a welcome throwback ❤️

[@sebastianelytron8450]

All longform SciShow videos have been getting it

[@riverbender9898]

What an excellent channel this is. Well done!

[@St33ldancer]

This is what I want to go into. So fascinating.

[@alvinoid12]

Where is Muscle Hank?

[@HTYM]

Over there. 👉

[@meetaverma8372]

@@HTYM you made me laugh, I was sad, my exams are approaching

[@kennymartin5976]

To quote metal gear: "nano machines? Nano machines ."

[@Jesus-dn5lc]

Those molecules took our jobs!

[@themightyhercules566]

Nanomachines, Son... ...Or would it be classified as "Molecule Machines"?

[@SilverBolt1159]

I just saw a recent documentary called "Atlantis Rising" which discussed some interesting theories on Stone Age and Bronze Age seafaring. Thought it might make for an interesting video!

[@thetommantom]

An engine is a loop that relies on multiple steps that interact with one another. A does something to B which does something to C which does something with A. That UV example proves that one thing can do something to another. What can that do to something else, that can do something, to something else? To get a loop might take a few interactions.

[@flybennu]

Definitely see amazing things coming in the future

[@DullFiction]

NANOMACHINES, SON

[@jarehelt]

Lol make america great again senator! 😂😂

[@sageandcandle]

Not quite ready for Replicators or Borg perfection yet

[@ThomasJDavis]

I was trying to pin down where I've heard this voice before and I think I got it. Stefan is a "vocal doppelganger" of Jamie from the ACA show Talk Heathen.

[@meetaverma8372]

You noticed something that's really hard to notice, I can also notice it tho

[@rigrentals5297]

molecular goodness. really good episode today.

[@hauntedlolita666]

I want more videos like this.

[@coffeediction]

Hey can you guys make a video about "what are headaches" or "migraines"? :)

[@anonymousperson748]

Excellent, as usual.

[@chipkosboth3233]

Ben Feringa... loved him in Tenspeed and Brownshoe.

[@lewismassie]

The most awesome part is that most of the pictures of the scientists are of them in colour images. This is happening now. So cool

[@brunomachado9634]

There was actually a competition on molecular machines in Toulouse (France) recently! Look out F1...

[@loganm1586]

I know this may seem nitpicky, but the same forces that are attributed to friction are types of Van der Waals forces. And there is still a long standing argument about whether hydrogen bonds are actually bonds or just special Van der Waals forces. The problem with working on the molecular scale is not that some of rules of physics don't apply; its just that when you are working with stuff that is 10^-27 grams every little force can have "big" effect, even though in reality those same forces are at play in everything we just don't have to think about them much when dealing with kilograms of stuff.

[@average7771]

creating these robots seems like a "small" problem

[@maxpower19711]

Protomolecule rings are even better, Protomolecule rings would allow us to travel to the stars. The Expanse reference

[@SuviTuuliAllan]

Came here for this!

[@brandonsisouvong9476]

you guys should explain the lazarus phenomenon!

[@tytalbot3973]

Could you do an episode on the long term effects of cannabis on human physcology

[@FacelessOfficial1]

0:52-1:02 oh NOW it makes sense it wouldn't actually be machines they would just play the role of a machine.. 3:57-4:06 well that sound awfully......mechanical.....

[@shreyanshdas7481]

Very informative

[@fmshobojoe1]

This is super relevant to us! our group is currently working a nanomachine/nanomapping concept using DNA.

[@karlhans6678]

I hope nanomachines become a reality in the next 10 years.

[@nopenope7184]

Machine? I am beaming this video directly into my eyes

[@JustinY.]

Now let's hope we don't have self replicating nanomachines that achieve sentience in the future

[@vrealon7738]

Its a bot

[@Artemis-zl5cs]

why do i keep seeing you everywhere lol

[@JustinY.]

Nanomachines son.

[@DonCDXX]

I know that story. Nanobots - TMBG

[@pastordonkoh7692]

*NANOSUIT 2.0*

[@joethomas2478]

Think about it... Imagine one day manufacturing machines so small that we could make cells and complex 'life' out of them :O

[@DonCDXX]

Nanites might even be able to help control chemical reactions for manufacturing on a small scale. I want to use nanites for a microbrewery.

[@LuaanTi]

Not that likely, unless you can find a way to "freeze" the chemistry of a cell while it's being built. And cells like ours are _incredibly_ complex - we haven't even scratched the surface at understanding the tiny minute details that make them work. But then again, why would you even try? We already have cells - changing existing cells (or their genetic information) is *way* easier than building them from scratch. We already play around with making artificial viruses that do exactly that. And they'll likely work much better inside living bodies, where they have plenty of nutrients etc. - especially compared to the nano-machines we are already building, which use materials that are extremely rare in the human body. I'd bet on "programmable yeast" for a micro-brewery too. We already have life that does all you need it to do, so why not use that? :P There are some things nano-machines might be better at, but I'd expect the tailored microbes etc. to get there a lot sooner, and be a lot cheaper - unless people actively block that research politically.

[@aureliusp1330]

Old Snake's voice: nano machines?!

[@tommeng6522]

Man, that Molecool

[@ajbbbt]

"Do you want to create the Borg? Because that's how you create the Borg."

[@zoofan9280]

Great video

[@TerryProthero]

The key to this will be using experiments such as these to create tools which can be used to create better tools. It might take several generations of machines before you are at a point where you can do all the things you want. But our methods for constructing objects are far to crude to accomplish the types of things we would like. Effectively manipulating substances on a molecular level is an important step forward.

[@YoshimieYutaka]

This is why I love science.

[@ethanwagner6418]

I hope I am around for the nanotech revolution.

[@gigglysamentz2021]

This was great ! Gotta love the natural molecular machines QuQ

[@Kai-vo5zq]

You should do a video on why Justin Y. is on every video I watch.

[@sebastianelytron8450]

Just search on YT, many have done that!

[@sudazima]

I once explained to ben feringa which ports on his laptop were which, so he could hold his nobelprize winning talk :P (i was actually in the room when he got the news)

[@Xaevryn]

Wait, aren't all machines made out of molecules?

[@kalebelke275]

Xaevryn scrub it says machines the size of molecules

[@Dyslexic-Artist-Theory-on-Time]

Genetic engineering will change the world more than any machine! Why don’t you make a video on the alternative theories about the Universe on KZbin this would be interesting and good for the KZbin community!!!

[@kierannurmi5488]

I'd be interested in a more in-depth episode about van der waals force, microfluidics, etc...Right now, I know just enough for the movie Downsizing to be disappointing.

[@deanmc]

"Nanomachines?" - Solid Snake

[@melody3741]

To be serious though this literally seems impossible this is absolutely incredible

[@bergonius]

Amazing!

[@Philippians4.13Enjoyer]

Could we use this to create heat powered batteries? 6:50 I'm asking because I believe a battery is a container for electrons to move from an anode to cathode.

[@Philippians4.13Enjoyer]

Again, I could be wrong, I'm just curious.

[@LuaanTi]

We already have those. Large amount of those, in fact. But you forgot one critical bit - they're powered by a heat _gradient_. It needs to be warm on one side, and cold on the other. We usually call them "heat engines" rather than batteries, though. It's the same with e.g. alkaline batteries, though in that case, you're exploiting a different gradient. In general, any gradient can be used to perform work - not necessarily worth the effort, though :P

[@melody3741]

Enzymes! If people can make slime block mechanisms, we can definitely develop out own enzymes

[@finalbossd]

At 3:30, hydrogen bonds are not chemical bonds. They are instantaneous interactions between hydrogen and three specific atoms, but they are neither covalent nor ionic bonds.

[@finalbossd]

ᴍ ᴏ ɴ ᴏ s ᴄ ᴀ ʟ ᴇ By your definition, hydrogen bonds are not chemical bonds, since it is just a temporary attraction between the hydrogen of one molecule with the oxygen, fluorine, or nitrogen of another. No electrons are exchanged nor shared between atoms in a hydrogen bond.

[@sizanogreen9900]

Amazing.

[@bengoodwin2141]

I thought of something similar to those catanane bonds- you might be able to trap methane inside buckyballs (soccer ball shaped carbon molecules) to make a tiny, super tough balloon. It would also be lighter than air if enough methane was trapped inside

[@ojtheaviator1795]

Awesome!

[@feynstein1004]

Molecular terminators? Dayum

[@oldcowbb]

Nanomachines, son!

[@seikojin]

Nano muscle is all you need.

[@TheAvsouto]

"First molecular motor" Mitocondria: Am I a joke to you

[@tomc.5704]

Molecular engineering is the future---but to be more specific, _Bio_ Molecular Engineering is the future. Our bodies are powered by a dynamic system of nanomachines. We've got transport proteins, enzymes that break molecules apart, enzymes that build things, motors powered by electron gradients, synchronized pumps that send electrical signals through your neurons.... The most famous processes in your body (DNA replication, protein synthesis, mitochondria, citric acid cycle) are _incredibly_ complex. Designed by eons of ruthless natural selection, they are far beyond anything we can build. But you know what the best part is? Cells already have factories that make nanomachines. Ribosomes take the instructions encoded in DNA and manufacture a protein. Everything you want "nanites" to do, proteins already do it. So how do we access this nanomachine factory? Easy, give it instructions encoded in DNA. So why aren't we doing this yet? Well, translating a protein into DNA instructions is easy. But designing that protein? That's hard. You've got to deal with chemistry, molecular physics, quantum physics, and the complex infrastructure of the cell. But we're working on it. The Rosetta program is (as far as I'm aware) the leading push towards being able to design custom proteins. You can check it out for yourself via Fold-It and Rosetta@Home. It's extremely computationally intensive to design a protein. But there's hope on the horizon--predicting the lowest energy state of a complex system is an ideal problem to hand over to quantum computers. When we realize the potential of quantum computing, protein design will be revolutionized overnight.

[@niki123489]

The spermatozoid is of a molecular machine. That is really fascinating if you think about it!

[@michaelperrone3867]

We are already made of molecular machines and biology is the most advanced nanotechnology we will ever need. Which makes it all the more tragic that we are making so many species go extinct: so much knowledge being lost - like when the Spanish burned all the written records in Mesoamerica.

[@bennoble9178]

*200 PERCENT MAD*

[@Chocl8215]

Nanomachines, Son.

[@Novak2611]

My favorite real molecular machines: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jpDXiqWkq8SibKM

[@nickbrown6875]

Good vid

[@TheElectra5000]

Ok. This is all very nice. But how?? How do they take a bunch of atoms to join them in molecules? How can they make one molecule? How does that work?

[@vinicoutinho]

SciShow staff, I have to tell you something, I love all the topics you bring, the researches you make, the way you present, but there is one point that bothers me so much, it is the look of the graphics and animations, it's super outdated, also the intro song. I am not saying it is bad, not at all, but I am saying it lacks of refreshment, after all these years with the same visual it looks boring even not being boring because it is science. I would really enjoy to see the content of yours being presented on a very cool looking video with a nice intro. Well, I wish the best for the channel.

[@deawinter]

Isn’t this quite similar to what proteins do in our body? I suppose those are a bit bigger, but it’s hard to look at the complex and finnicky tasks they manage and not think of them as machines

[@robinlindgren6429]

"many chemists are actually thinking a lot smaller, making machines out of molecules." my first thought: wait... aren't all machines made of molecules?

[@rparl]

Very, very interesting. With this knowledge, I could ... (dare I say it; ... ... I dare. I dare!) RULE THE WORLD, Pinky.

[@MauroTamm]

Carbon nanotube chainmail at molecular level?

[@gigglysamentz2021]

I only found catenanes back to 1985, in what 60s paper do they talk about it?

[@gigglysamentz2021]

Ah it must have been on rotaxanes : sci-hub.tw/10.1021/ja00998a052

[@Raylen_Fa-ield]

Thats so cool

[@universall8731]

Ill just be "That Guy" to say it.. You mean NanoMachines?

[@petercarioscia9189]

Universall no. Different concepts. A nanomachine is a device we'd recognize as a machine under a microscope. A molecular machines would be a machine that just looks like an amino acid (or even less complex than an amino acid) under electron microscopes...orders of magnitude smaller than a nanomachine.

[@coldernice5523]

Universall Not without a space between the 2 capitals.

[@universall8731]

YASH THANK YOU!! Lol

[@Paulius01]

Nanomachines, son

[@piakpiak5076]

Now we just need a molecular chain mail.

[@55445]

Machines the size of Molecules are just... Bacteria right?

[@LuaanTi]

No. Bacteria are _humongous_ compared to molecules. Even the biggest molecules (things like the ATP-synthase, which is basically a biological electromotor) in a bacterium are tiny compared to the bulk of the bacterium. And the electromotors _we_ build "nano-scale" are absurdly tiny even compared to ATP-synthase - though they have their own issues. But certainly, tailored life solves many of the same problems as nano-machines. They're pretty related fields in terms of what we can achieve with them, especially when working inside a living body (e.g. curing cancer, preventing aging, that sort of thing). Each has their advantages and disadvantages.

[@R.E.D.A.C.T.E.D.]

NANOMACHINES, SON!

[@nyris115]

Sci show, please use commas. I had to read that title like 7 times before it made sense lmao.

[@alyssam8550]

Ummm... Where do you suggest they put a comma in this title??

[@eggs8021]

Why