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From scientific animation company XVIVO in collaboration with Harvard comes an 8-minute video showing nature’s nanotechnology: molecular machinery of the cell, in action:
Nuclei, proteins and lipids move with bug-like authority, slithering, gliding and twisting through 3D space. “All of those things that you see in the animation are going on in every one of your cells in your body all the time,” says XVIVO lead animator John Liebler…
“…in the animation there’s a motor protein that’s sort of walking along a line, carrying this round sphere of lipids. When I started working on that section I admit I was kind of surprised to see that it really does look like it’s out for a stroll, like a character in a science fiction film or animation. But based on all the data, it’s a completely accurate rendering.”
It’s a preview of the nanotech of the future, and it looks like science fiction. No surprise there.
As you watch, keep in mind two points: in reality, (1) these structures are also engaging in a lot more random motion, and (2) they are packed closer together. But showing those features would make it hard for us to understand what is happening.
Here’s a version I’d like to see: the addition of labels and — while the music is lovely — an audio explanation of what we’re seeing.
But the current version is great too. (Source: CRN) —Christine
