A modular device measuring just two billionths of a metre across, could one day act as a remote control for nano-machines.

Dubbed a ‘chemical-brain’, the machine is made from 17 molecules of the chemical duroquinone. Each of these resembles a ring with four protruding spokes that can be independently rotated to represent four different states.

One duroquinone module sits at the centre of a ring formed by the other 16. All are connected by hydrogen bonds. The state of the control molecule at the centre is switched by a scanning tunnelling microscope (STM).

Using the STM, researchers at the International Center for Young Scientists in Japan, showed they could change the central molecule’s state and simultaneously switch the states of the surrounding 16.

The configuration allows four billion possible combinations and outcomes.

It is hoped this ‘chemical brain’ could be used in the future for treating disease, and scientists believe it could also play a part in boosting the processing power of future computers.

Read more at the BBC