Ohio State University researchers have captured the first-ever images of atoms moving within a molecule using a novel technique that turns one of the molecules own electrons into a kind of flash bulb. The technique has yielded a new way of imaging molecules, but could one day help scientists to intimately control chemical reactions at the atomic scale.
The images were snapped using an ultrafast laser, which fired 50 femtosecond (a femtosecond is a quadrillionth of a second) pulses at the molecule to knock a single electron outside of the molecules outer shell. This electron, having been knocked out of its proper place, comes crashing back into the molecule, and in doing so it provides the kind of illumination the researchers need to image the molecule itself.
By measuring the scattered signal of the electron as it collides with the molecule, they were able to reconstruct the inner workings of the molecule, including things like the positions of the atoms nuclei. Moreover, because there is a very short lag between when the electron is knocked out and when it comes crashing back, the researchers are able to capture the movement of the atoms within that period, essentially allowing them to make a frame-by-frame film of atomic motion within molecules.For their experiments the researchers used oxygen (O2) and nitrogen (N2) molecules because their molecular structures are well understood. The next steps will involve imaging more complex molecules and, eventually, figuring out the potential for precisely controlling chemical reactions right down to the atomic level.
Five amazing, clean technologies that will set us free, in this month's energy-focused issue. Also: how to build a better bomb detector, the robotic toys that are raising your children, a human catapult, the world's smallest arcade, and much more.


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bre789: Your roommate's aunt is a lying twat.
You're being watched, you two!
ಠ_ಠ
Reddit watches all of us. We can never really get away.
And yes, bre789's roommate's aunt is a lying twat. More richly nutty than nutty rich.
Reddit ... another google in the making? Where's Conspiracy Keanu when you need em?
and yea ...THAT LYING TWAT!!!
Cool
Cool
You cannot escape the all-seeing eye of Reddit. Resistance is futile. On a side note, the article was pretty interesting.
Conspiracy? Ha!
who watches the watchers......
havent read it yet, but im gonna.
oh, @bre789, i reaffirm your aunt is a lying twat
No one should speak of this conspiracy or of watching of the watchers unless you want to get sacked.
What a frickin lying twat your aunt is @bre789, she was only making $11/hour last night...
Consiracy? What Conspiracy?
Seriously, I have not a clue what I am looking at, but it is pretty! Yea for science and those who know what we are looking at!!!!
My best guess is Skittles hitting their mark at ground zero!
.............................
Science sees no further than what it can sense.
Religion sees beyond the senses.
I can't think of what the experiment would be but I do know, intuitavely that this experiment, if some how combined with the famous "Youngs Slit Experiment" could yield possible breakthrus in physics tantamount to what we learn from particle colliders. Don't ask me how I know this. :) -- but probably it poses interesting ideas into any serious physicists. I mean, it would be intereting to see the 'frame by frame' video of what happens in the Slit Experiment. Could even give us access to other multiverses? I think there will be huge ramifications to this whole thing. (i.e. what the article is about)
(to you kids, please quit pissing all over this site, and go find somewhere else to play)