Brownian motors are nano-scale or molecular devices by which thermally activated processes are controlled and used to generate directed motion in space and to do mechanical or electrical work. These tiny engines operate in an environment where viscosity dominates inertia, and where thermal noise makes moving in a specific direction as difficult as walking in a hurricane: the forces impelling these motors in the desired direction are puny in comparison with the random forces exerted by the environment. Despite this protein motors and pumps - perfected over the course of millions of years of evolution - are able to transport material from here to there, pump ions, and to build and control the infrastructure of the cell. I will review our current understanding of the basic physics by which brownian motors work and discuss recent efforts by chemists and physicists to synthesize molecules and to engineer nano-scale structures that emulate in part the remarkable capabilities of bio-molecular machines.
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