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Tiny robot cleaners

Researchers in Troy, New York, have made the world's smallest brushes, with bristles a thousand times thinner than a human hair. They're guaranteed to sweep clean the tiny world of nanotechnology. This report from Roland Pease:

Listen to the story
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

Listen to the words
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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