Precisely arranging nanoparticles to develop plasmonic molecules

In the incredibly small world of molecules, the elementary building blocks—the atoms—join together in a very regular pattern. In contrast, in the macroscopic world with its larger particles, there is much greater disorder ...

Robotic swimmer sheds light on microorganisms in motion

Just by moving around, microorganisms like bacteria and sperm are performing a remarkable feat. The effects of viscosity are amplified at small scales, which means a microorganism swimming in water is a bit like a person ...

Moving objects at the nanoscale using thermal regions

Researchers report that it is possible to move a nanoparticle on the surface of a graphene sheet by applying a temperature difference at the ends of the membrane—a nanocluster on the surface will drift from the hot region ...

Nanoswitches converting light into macroscopic motion

Researchers of the University of Twente's MESA+ research institute have developed spiral ribbons made of molecules, that are able to convert light into complex macroscopic motion. Therefore, they managed to amplify molecular ...

Can an oil bath solve the mysteries of the quantum world?

For the past eight years, two French researchers have been bouncing droplets around a vibrating oil bath and observing their unique behaviour. What sounds like a high-school experiment has in fact provided the first ever ...

What if quantum physics worked on a macroscopic level?

Quantum physics concerns a world of infinitely small things. But for years, researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, have been attempting to observe the properties of quantum physics on a larger scale, ...

Quantum refrigerator offers extreme cooling and convenience

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have demonstrated a solid-state refrigerator that uses quantum physics in micro- and nanostructures to cool a much larger object to extremely low temperatures.

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