They Claim To Have Pictured A Molecule!

[cousinlucky]

Single molecule, one million times smaller than a grain of sand, pictured for first time | Mail Online

[nujinini]

Single molecule, one million times smaller than a grain of sand, pictured for first time | Mail Online

Wow! I have taken quite a lot of chemistry in my college days and this actual picture of a molecule looks very similar to the theoretical molecular structures we have studied.

[fguy64]

I guess they used a telephoto lens. It's a little out of focus though.

Anyways, very cool, thanks for the heads up

[MikeTbob]

Very interesting, but I'm the guy who wants to check out that atomic force microscope, that would ROCK!\

[Bemk]

Please don't start to hate me, but I'm a bit sceptic still. I want to see more evidence, before I believe it. The story sounds theoretically possible, but hey, try to actually do it. If they have done it, I suppose they will have had a whole heap of trouble to go through, but on the other hand, it still is theoretically possible. (I think the image, if true, would have been better if taken at -273,15 below 0 Celsius, or exactly 0 K, the absolute 0 point in temperature).

Just imagine it, this is far more complex than taking a look at bacteria.

[teenytinylinuxgrl]

I saw an Omega molecule in a Star Trek Voyager episode! It only exists for a tiny fraction of a second, but it was a near-religious experience for Seven of Nine. Perfection!

Amy

[Bemk]

If I am to believe my school books and the web, this omega molecule only exists in star-trek.
As a fatty-acid it does exist, but that isn't the omega you're talking about, I suppose.

[questio verum]

Cousinlucky,
Thanks for the linky. This isn't the first time a microscope has imaged at this level. But it is the first time an entire molecule has been imaged. This is cool. I see it as another step toward making nanotechnology, as envisioned by Eric K. Drexler, a reality. I googled the atomic force microscope and got several hits. The Wikipedia page offers some tantalizing tidbits. Atomic force microscopes are now being used in biology to great effect. I believe that eventually every single type of bodily tissue and every structure in the human body from brain to blood to bone, will be probed at the molecular level, mapped, & catalogued. Then it will only a matter of time until scientists in the chemical and biological disciplines produce tissue replacements equal or superior to those produced naturally. Drexler posited that the human body could be augmented in several ways, ultimately extending the lifespan to 500 years and increasing the quality of life. Imagine if the muscles, bones, organs, and connecting tissue in your body were improved to the level of space-age materials. What if your central and peripheral nervous systems were augmented to double, triple, quadruple, or more, the response and correction times. You could outrun a cheetah and not even break a sweat. Automobile accidents would all but end. It would certainly pose some interesting ethical and moral questions. Unfortunately, I probably wont be around to see it though.


qv

[Hal343]

Bemk, IBM has been using electron microscopes for at least 25 years that I know of. They are probably the furthest ahead in atomic microscopy of anyone, including governments. I doubt that they would publish anything in this field that they can't back up, since other organizations will be trying the same thing, and their prestige would fall if they published something untrue.

[teenytinylinuxgrl]

If I am to believe my school books and the web, this omega molecule only exists in star-trek. As a fatty-acid it does exist, but that isn't the omega you're talking about, I suppose.

I was trying to be cute! Sorry. But you're right of course. The Star Trek Omega molecule was supposedly the cause of the big bang and has all this destructive power to destroy the whole universe or something... the Omega Directive requires Starfleet captains to drop everything else, cancels the Prime Directive for the mission, and requires them to locate and destroy any detected Omega they find at any cost!

Fatty acid? That just sounds gross. Like an obese Toxic Avenger or something.

Trying to be cute again (maybe not successfully),
Amy