http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/06/science/nobel-prize-chemistry.html 2016-10-05 13:10:51 3 Makers of ‘World’s Smallest Machines’ Awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry Jean-Pierre Sauvage, J. Fraser Stoddart and Bernard L. Feringa won for “molecular machines” that can be used for the development of new materials, sensors and energy storage systems. === Jean-Pierre Sauvage, J. Fraser Stoddart and Bernard L. Feringa were These “ “In terms of development, the molecular motor is at the same stage as the electric motor was in the 1830s, when scientists displayed various spinning cranks and wheels, unaware that they would lead to electric trains, washing machines, fans and food processors,” it said. The three scientists will equally share the prize of 8 million Swedish kronor, or about $930,000. The The second step was taken by Dr. Stoddart in 1991 Dr. Feringa, in 1999, became the first person to develop a molecular motor; he got a molecular rotor blade to spin continually in the same direction. The three men invigorated the field of topological chemistry, the academy said. They were pioneers in the second wave of nanotechnology, a field that the physicist Dr. Dr. Dr. Feringa, 64, was born in Barger-Compascuum, the Netherlands and received his Ph.D. in 1978 from the University of Groningen, in the Netherlands, where he is a professor of organic chemistry. Dr. Feringa, who spoke by telephone with journalists assembled in Stockholm at the prize announcement, said he was “a bit shocked” when he got the phone call telling him he had been honored. He said he envisioned the development of tiny robots that could be injected into a patient’s veins to seek out cancer cells, and nanoscale converters that could store energy. “I feel a little bit like the Wright Brothers, who were flying 100 years ago for the first time,” he said. “People were saying, ‘Why do we need a flying machine?’ And now we have a Boeing 747 and an Airbus.” The molecular discovery “opens up a whole new world of nanomachines,” he said, while acknowledging that “we have to think about how we can handle these things safely.” ■ Yoshinori Ohsumi, a Japanese cell biologist, ■ David J. Thouless, F. Duncan M. Haldane and J. Michael Kosterlitz Tomas Lindahl, Paul L. Modrich and Aziz Sancar Three more will be awarded in the coming days: ■ The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on Friday in Norway. Read about ■ The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science will be announced on Monday, Oct. 10, in Sweden. Read about ■ The Nobel Prize in Literature will be announced on Thursday, Oct. 13, in Sweden. Read about