People often take their muscles for granted. They pick up a bag, tighten a grip, climb a hill, hold a cup of coffee and the body quietly adjusts force, speed and position without the person ever thinking about it. Muscle turns chemical energy into movement . It is able to produce force smoothly and reliably, even though it is built from huge numbers of tiny molecular components. When the load changes, muscles don't simply wobble or fail.

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry this morning went to Jean-Pierre Sauvage, J. Fraser Stoddart and Bernard L. Feringa for breakthroughs in designing molecular machines. Their insights on building tiny motors -- 1,000 times thinner than a strand of hair -- have led to molecular robots that can pluck out and connect individual amino acids. They can also be used for drug delivery. And there's more to come: The Nobel committee said the molecular motor is about as advanced at this stage as the electric motor was in the 1830s, "when researchers proudly displayed various spinning cranks and wheels in their laboratories without having any idea that they would lead to electric trains, washing machines, fans, and food processors." The miniscule machinery honored today will likely be used in the future to build an array of sensors, energy storage systems, and even new material.

The 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to three scientists for their contributions to creating the world's smallest machine, which is 1,000 times smaller than a single strand of human hair. While this molecular motor is still in the early stages of development, it could become the foundation for miniature technology such as new materials, sensors, energy storage systems, and robots. Google's next big step for AI: Getting robots to teach each other new skills Robots haven't reached human intelligence yet, but Google's researchers are showing how they're closing the gap. The concept of making machines on the nanoscale has been around since the 1950s, but it took decades of experiments for scientists to achieve the milestones that brought the idea into the real world. Throughout this time, researchers have been inspired by something called bacterial flagella, microscopic "engines" that are found in nature.

Three scientists won the Nobel Prize in chemistry on Wednesday for developing the world's smallest machines, work that could revolutionize computer technology and lead to a new type of battery. Frenchman Jean-Pierre Sauvage, British-born Fraser Stoddart and Dutch scientist Bernard "Ben" Feringa share the 8 million kronor ( 930,000) prize for the "design and synthesis of molecular machines," the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said. Machines at the molecular level are 1,000th the width of a human hair and have taken chemistry to a new dimension, the academy said. Molecular machines "will most likely be used in the development of things such as new materials, sensors and energy storage systems." Stoddart has already developed a molecule-based computer chip with 20 kB memory.