Can it stop this man?
Posted on 12/28/2006 7:26:36 AM PST by presidio9
Scientists have created a keypad lock a single molecule in size. This lock only activates when exposed to the correct password, a sequence of chemicals and light.
Researchers suggest their device could in the future lead to a new level of safeguards for secret information. This lock might also serve to recognize when certain sequences of chemicals are released in the body--for instance, after exposure to Sarin or another deadly chemical or biological weapon.
Organic chemist Abraham Shanzer and his colleagues at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovat, Israel, began with a molecule named FLIP. At its core is a component dubbed a "linker" that mimics a bacterial compound that binds to iron. Attached to it are two molecules that respectively can glow either blue or green.
There are essentially three "buttons" that scientists can use with this molecular kedypad lock. These are an acidic molecule, an alkaline compound, and ultraviolet light.
When the lock is exposed to one sequence of chemicals and light--the alkaline molecule, followed by ultraviolet light--it will emit blue light. When the lock is given another "password"--the acid, then the alkaline, and finally ultraviolet light--it will glow green.
These reactions only take place if each input is given within three minutes of each other, or the lock will essentially reset. Any other combination will have relatively little to no effect. In essence, this keypad resembles a simple ATM banking machine authorized for two different passwords, the researchers said.
Scientists can in principle design molecular keypad locks that accept any number of different inputs, for more complex devices that respond, say, only to long sequences of light pulses. "This opens up many new directions," Shanzer told LiveScience.
Shanzer and his colleagues reported their findings online December 19 via the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
I have a hard enough time finding my car keys, now this!........
I don't get this kind of stuff.
FLIP? One would have hoped they'd have not been so flippant with a name since it might hold your life in it's memory.
Can it stop this man?
Perfect for that 10-molecule sized keyboard.
If you can find it.
An exploit waiting to happen!
Can locksmiths afford electron microscopes?
I don't get it - how can anything be sealed with a molecule size lock? I mean, even the wimpiest person in the world could break the seal with the brush of a finger.
"Who are you and how did you get in here?"
"I'm a locksmith, and I'm a locksmith."
Which part? You may have an engineering oriented type brain rather than pure-science oriented type brain.
This is pure science, where they are performing experiments with no immediate practical application.
Engineering is the taking of pure science and applying it to real world problems.
Ironically, the article's author has sexed this raw science up to suggest an application/analogy of use in a keylock or a WMD antidote like an engineer would begin.
Science vs. engineering is like an antique collector and an old fork. Scientist will study the silver, the style, the history of the flatware. Engineer will use it to eat dinner.
So, I wonder what wonderful things are going on these days in the Institutes of Science in Arab countries?
On another subject, science subject, what about cloned animals. I heard that the FDA or whatever gov. dept. it is that decides what is safe to eat or not safe to eat -- says cloned animals are safe and need no label. Seems to me that cloned animals age rapidly, might that not be a health concern? might we age rapidly after eating quickly aging cows.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.