Researchers have created the first molecular-machine combination.
It twists and swims – and little else – but the first combination of two molecular machines is an important step on the long path to nanodevices sophisticated enough to, for example, perform repair functions within our cells.
We live in a science fictional world, and any predictions of the future that fail to take the increasing pace of technological change into account are irrelevant.
Of course, any predictions of the future that do take it into account are probably quite wrong, but at least they prepare us for the notion that the future will be different than the present–possibly far, far different.
Reading science fiction, I’ve often said, serves as an inoculation against future shock.
