A class of molecules called NanoPutians are designed to resemble the human form.
In a project that combines art and science, a research group at Rice University in Houston have created a class of anthropomorphic molecules. At the school’s Department of Chemistry and Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology Stephanie Chanteau and James Tour have designed a full array of 2nm long chemicals that resemble the human form. They call the molecules NanoPutians. The array includes monomers, dimers and even longer polymer chains of these molecules. The two in the picture appear to be doing some sort of celebratory happy dance. The researchers originally came up with the idea in 2003. This is one of the cutest chemistry projects I’ve come across in quite a while. Kudos to the Rice university scientists for having a little fun with chemistry. Check out the link for the source article, which is behind an ACS paywall, and click here to see free pictures of more of these cute little molecules.