Tiny robot cleaners

  Brushes, brooms and hairy fly swats are probably among the first tools fashioned by humans. Certainly, an ancient paint brush used by a prehistoric cave artist survives from 30,000 years ago. So it's fitting that miniature versions of these should adorn the burgeoning field of nanotechnology.

The bristles of these new nanobrushes are made of tiny carbon filaments thirty billionths of a metre across and a few millionths long. The brush handles they're attached to are comparatively large - thicker than a human hair! The researchers have taken microscope pictures showing the brushes can be used to sweep up tiny pieces of nanodust on dirty surfaces - particles that would escape any normal brush.

The researchers also used their brushes to paint microstructures; and by coating the hairs with absorbent compounds, they could soak up toxins from water. If the tiny tools prove robust enough, they could one day find medical uses painting protective materials onto tiny parts in our bodies - or sweeping away unwanted crud.

Roland Pease, BBC Science Correspondent

Vocabulary:

 
fashioned : made

it's fitting that: it's appropriate, it's a good connection that

miniature: very very small, tiny

adorn: be part of

burgeoning: growing and developing

nanotechnology: the science of making very very small machines and tools. The prefix 'nano' is used with many different nouns and comes from the measurement. For example, a nanometre = 0.000000001 of a metre.

The bristles: the part of a brush that do the cleaning

coating: covering

robust: strong and tough

crud: dirt and rubbish

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