Researchers have invented a tiny engine that could power nanobots through human bodies.
The minuscule devices – a few billionths of a meter across – are powered by light and can produce huge amounts of energy relative to their size.
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They work by using a complex plastic gel to absorb energy from lasers. Then when the gel cools to a given temperature, the stored energy is blasted out again like a spring.
Scientists at the University of Cambridge claim the technology could be the bedrock for a wave of scientific innovation focusing on microscopic technology.
The materials are also safe to insert into a human body, which raises the prospect of devices powered by the engines being involved in futuristic medical procedures.
Scientists from the University of Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory developed the engine, nicknamed the Ant engine because of its tiny size and strength.
Currently the energy is expelled in all directions at once, but researchers are working on a way to focus the output to reliably produce movement, like a car’s engine.
Dr Ventsislav Valev, who co-authored a paper in the PNAS science journal, said: “We know that light can heat up water to power steam engines. But now we can use light to power a piston engine at the nanoscale.”
