Molecules are the building blocks of everyday life.
Many materials are composed of them, a little like a LEGO model
consists of a multitude of different bricks. But while individual
LEGO bricks can be simply shifted or removed, this is not so easy
in the nanoworld. Atoms and molecules behave in a completely
different way to macroscopic objects and each brick requires its
own ‘instruction manual.’ Scientists from Jülich and Berlin have
now developed an artificial intelligence system that autonomously
learns how to grip and move individual molecules using a scanning
tunneling microscope. The method, which has been published in
Science Advances, is not only relevant for research but also for
novel production technologies such as molecular 3-D
printing.