NANOTECHNOLOGY: Beyond Gedanken Experiments.

For future nanomechanical devices to be realized, sophisticated ways of manipulating small structures must be developed, and fundamental elements of macroscopic machines, such as switches and bearings, must be reproduced in the nanoscale. Forró highlights the nanotube nanobearings and nanoswitches reported by Cumings and Zettl and concludes that multiwall nanotubes are ideal starting materials for future nanodevices.