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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009

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Climate Skeptics:
Hacked Emails
Prove We're Right

Scientist talks about adding a 'trick' to graph

Nov 21, 09 10:37 AM CST
College Threatens to Fail Students for Obesity

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TALK SHOW ROUNDUP

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h1n1 outbreak

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Soccer Stars' Fave New Cure: Horse Placenta Massage

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|NEXT STORY »

Scientists Capture Detailed Image of Molecule

Technique could help improve electronics, drugs

By Matt Cantor| Posted Aug 28, 09 9:32 AM CDT|

(Newser) – In a scientific first, IBM researchers have produced a detailed image of a molecule’s structure, the BBC reports. The stunning image, made with an atomic force microscope that vibrates like a tuning fork, is so finely detailed that it shows chemical bonds. Such intricate familiarity with the molecule opens the possibility of creating electronics and drugs on the atomic and molecular scales, which IBM says could lead to smaller, faster, and more energy-efficient computer chips.

The delicate inner structure of a pentacene molecule imaged with an atomic force microscope. (Image courtesy of IBM Research – Zurich)

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11.20.09

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Sarah Palin Deserves Some More Attention

23 comments

VIEWING:

Citrixguy
Aug 28, 09 9:37 AM CDT

Wow Reply

+11

IN RESPONSE:

sully4411
Aug 28, 09 9:56 AM CDT

...whats a three letter word for an unnecessary comment?

-5

IN RESPONSE:

SalParadise
Aug 28, 09 10:36 AM CDT

I'm not usually one to defend Citrix, but "wow" just about sums this up.

IN RESPONSE:

schmidtkoff
Aug 28, 09 12:03 PM CDT

@sully - Y-O-U

IN RESPONSE:

paul123
Aug 28, 09 1:39 PM CDT

wonderful advance! Wow!

| 0 minutes ago

TheSniperZero
Aug 28, 09 9:40 AM CDT

The size of a molecule- only 5 carbon atoms. That's just amazing- and it will come in handy if they every need to find Pelosi's brain. Reply

-2

IN RESPONSE:

Snarfeh
Aug 28, 09 9:46 AM CDT

And for repairing republican brains...a far greater need, at that, since no one really cares where Pelosi's brain is....

IN RESPONSE:

mintclassic
Aug 28, 09 12:42 PM CDT

Jesus Christ, do you ever have a one-track mind.

IN RESPONSE:

odowd80
Aug 28, 09 4:04 PM CDT

Oh c'mon Sniper's comment was a little bit funny. SOMEONE had to inject politics into this thread or it would be boring.

| 0 minutes ago

Realist
Aug 28, 09 9:56 AM CDT

Heh, you know it's bad when even purely scientific headlines are co-opted into attack vehicles for politics... Aren't there enough of these comments on almost every other article? Ah well, at least it's consistent. Cool news from a scientific point of view, tho :) Reply

+16

IN RESPONSE:

2-bits
Aug 28, 09 11:41 AM CDT

Every story turns into a political melee. It's the first rule of Newser.

IN RESPONSE:

schmidtkoff
Aug 28, 09 12:06 PM CDT

@realist- yeah, but it's so much entertainment.

| 0 minutes ago

JoeQ
Aug 28, 09 10:48 AM CDT

I'm not sure from the popular news article what's new here. It's interesting that an atomic force microscope is capable of imaging something as light and volatile as an organic molecule. Reply

-1

| 0 minutes ago

newsrmandan
Aug 28, 09 1:51 PM CDT

science will some day be able to see that evolutions has limited answers for the most basic of life's building blocks. Its just to complicated to be a product of random chance. INMO Reply

-2

IN RESPONSE:

my-name-here
Aug 28, 09 2:35 PM CDT

It's not simply a product of random chance. Chance plays a role, but there is more to it than mere chance.

IN RESPONSE:

my-name-here
Aug 28, 09 2:39 PM CDT

And life's building blocks are amino acids, which have been created in a lab from inorganic compounds. here's a link if you're interested. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miller%E2%80%93Urey_experiment

IN RESPONSE:

newsrmandan
Aug 28, 09 4:06 PM CDT

Science is amazing evolution rightly put is amazing, and amino acids being "created" in the confines of a lab is one thing. Take the lab away take the Lab assistance away and what chance do you have of this "amino acid" forming? No possibility ever. The greater the scientific research goes the greater the complexity of that which is being researched. My ? is will evolutionary science research itself out of relevance and affirm what I have always said. God created by the power of his word, science is an act in futility as it tries to disprove that.

-1

| 0 minutes ago

my-name-here
Aug 28, 09 4:46 PM CDT

Well, I wouldn't say NO possibility ever, but that isn't the point. It was only a demonstration that it is possible to create organics(i.e. amino acids, the building blocks of life) from in organics. I agree with you that science has the tendency to raise more questions then it answers. But I would argue that is one of it's prime assets. It encourages further learning and further learning, etc. As such, it can't research itself out of existence. It can ONLY grow. Humankind is insatiably hungry for knowledge. In your statement "The greater the scientific research goes...", are you referring to something specific or just in general? Reply

IN RESPONSE:

newsrmandan
Aug 28, 09 5:23 PM CDT

I just look at that picture and see that it needs more definition. The more defined that image can get what is it going to show? More and more complexity which will need greater and smaller technologies to unravel. Great for science great for humanity I am all for it. not that I need science to believe in a God or creator being but I just think science as good as it is has been misused to disprove the need or the existence of God. I agree that humankind has an insatiable hunger for what it does not understand but I would posit that is because God is insatiable. We will never reach the limits of God. Science helps to prove that with every new discovery.

IN RESPONSE:

my-name-here
Aug 28, 09 5:35 PM CDT

I'm with you, more focus would be good! And your question "...what is it going to show?" is a good example of what we clearly agree on. More questions! Be it the limits of God or not God, we again agree, that the limits (unlimited?) will never be reached. Thanks for clarifying that statement, by the way.

| 0 minutes ago

sjamms
Aug 29, 09 1:38 AM CDT

The micro world fascinates me, to be able to view and manipulate our own source code. Reply

IN RESPONSE:

riffran
Aug 29, 09 6:13 AM CDT

That would be a Pandoras box indeed...lol...Try watching the movie GATTICA....it touches on the realm of ideas...good flick, but a bit sad also

| 0 minutes ago

yo6ial
Aug 31, 09 12:51 PM CDT

not quite what i imagined... indeed, it is stunning. So, from now on, I'd expect the first picture of a hydrogen atom within next 5yrs? Reply

| 0 minutes ago

View all 23 comments »

drugs • science • electronics • IBM • image • microscopic • atom • scientific research • molecules

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Scientists Capture Detailed Image of Molecule

Technique could help improve electronics, drugs

drugs • science • electronics • IBM • image • microscopic • atom • scientific research • molecules

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