At just a few nanometres long, these are the world’s first molecular scissors. The nanomachine has a “handle” and a pair of “blades” that Takuzo Aida of the University of Tokyo hopes will form part of future nanomachines. Aida made the scissor handles from azobenzene, which extends or folds up when light of different wavelengths falls upon it. The pivot comprises a ferrocene molecule – an iron atom sandwiched between two carbon rings that are able to spin freely (Journal of the American Chemical Society, vol 125, p 5612).
