The nanocar is a molecule designed in 2005 at Rice University by a group headed by Professor James Tour.
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The name comes from the nanocar's resemblance to a dragster, as it has a shorter axle with smaller wheels in the front and a larger axle with larger wheels in the back.
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The nanocar was developed at Rice University’s Richard E. Smalley Institute Nanoscale Science and Technology by the team of James Tour, Kevin Kelly and other colleagues involved in its research.
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When dispersed on a gold surface, the molecules attach themselves to the surface via their fullerene groups and are detected via scanning tunneling microscopy.