To see how the machines move on a larger scale see Cell Locomotion at the University of Edinburgh, in Scotland. And go to this article at ScienceMatters@Berkeley Nanoscience Imitating Nature, to read about the work nanoscientist Matthew Francis is doing using organic chemistry to assemble tiny devices inspired by viruses. He, like many others in the field, hopes the work will lead to such breakthroughs as new cancer treatments or highly efficient solar cells.
Educational sites with general information on nanoscience are not hard to find. The Exploratorium in San Francisco has Small Talk podcasts, which cover a number of topics in nanoscience. University of California Television, produced in San Diego, has a show for younger students called When Things Get Small, and other programs.
Exploring the Nanoworld, a site from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, explores the science and engineering concepts at a college level. The site for IN-VSEE, which stands for Interactive Nano-Visualization in Science and Engineering Education, is maintained at Arizona State University. Click on the menu bar to see their educational offerings, which range from learning modules to a gallery with animations. See, for instance Does Size Matter? to learn how the importance of different physical forces change from one scale to another. At the smallest scales of the nanoworld, quantum effects must be taken into account. (See Quantum Biology: The Spooky NanoWorld of Molecules.) Building small requires a different way of thinking. Take a peek at the technical aspects in this Nature magazine article: Making Molecular Machines Work.
But the nano-revolution that seems inevitable (there are already more than a thousand consumer products with nano particles of one sort or another) also carries risks. Take carbon nanotubes, for instance. They figure in many designs for future materials and devices, yet the fine tubes, may mimic asbestos in their danger to our health. An article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, The Sackler Colloquium on Promises and Perils in Nanotechnology for Medicine gives a good technical account of how asbestos fibers damage cells and were really the first nano-hazard to be recognized. At the Web site of OnEarth, an independent publication of the Natural Resources Defense Council Defense, there is podcast, The Promise (and Perils) of Nanotechnology, on the state of government oversight of the emerging technology. Mentioned in the podcast is The Project on Emerging Nanotechologies, which was established in 2005, as a partnership between the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the Pew Charitable Trusts, to track the powerful new nanotechnologies as they evolve—for good and bad.