Ben Feringa’s Nobel Prize-winning molecular motors have received an update, allowing them to both emit light and rotate, Science Advances reports.

The molecular motors from Ben Feringa’s laboratory remain fascinating, yet they also run into a few problems. To make the rotating mechanism work, you often need high-intensity light (usually UV light) which can be harmful to the motor itself or the environment around it. Another point of interest is tracking your motor, as this is not yet possible. Lukas Pfeifer, Nong Hoang and colleagues from the Stratingh Institute for Chemistry and the Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials have tackled these two problems.