Lycurgus Cup in the context of "Lycurgus (Thrace)"

A cage cup, also vas diatretum, plural diatreta, or "reticulated cup" is a type of luxury late Roman glass vessel, found from roughly the 4th century, and "the pinnacle of Roman achievements in glass-making". Diatreta consist of an inner beaker and an outer cage or shell of decoration that stands out from the body of the cup, to which it is attached by short stems or shanks. About fifty cups or, more often, fragments have survived, and there are only a few in near-complete condition. Most have a cage with circular geometrical patterns, often with an "inscription", or phrase in letters above the reticulated area as well. Some have a flange, or zone of projecting open-cut moulding, above the lower patterns and below the lettering (only illustrated here by the Cologne cup in the gallery).

Even rarer are examples with scenes with figures, of which the Lycurgus Cup in the British Museum is the only complete example to survive, though there are other fragments. In this the rest of the "cage" is made up of a vine that entraps Lycurgus. None have a foot. All were clearly difficult to make, and no doubt very expensive, like the other spectacular type of luxury Roman glass, cameo glass objects like the Portland Vase. Both the technology used to make them and the way they were used are still the subject of some debate among specialists.

A nanomotor is a molecular or nanoscale device capable of converting energy into movement. It can typically generate forces on the order of piconewtons.

While nanoparticles have been utilized by artists for centuries, such as in the famous Lycurgus cup, scientific research into nanotechnology did not come about until recently. In 1959, Richard Feynman gave a famous talk entitled "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom" at the American Physical Society's conference hosted at Caltech. He went on to wage a scientific bet that no one person could design a motor smaller than 400 μm on any side. The purpose of the bet (as with most scientific bets) was to inspire scientists to develop new technologies, and anyone who could develop a nanomotor could claim the $1,000 USD prize. However, his purpose was thwarted by William McLellan, who fabricated a nanomotor without developing new methods. Nonetheless, Richard Feynman's speech inspired a new generation of scientists to pursue research into nanotechnology.