Slashdot Mirror
Caltech Researchers Weigh Individual Molecules
karvind writes "PhysOrg reports that physicists at the California Institute of Technology have created the first nanodevices capable of weighing individual biological molecules. This technology may lead to new forms of molecular identification that are cheaper and faster than existing methods, as well as revolutionary new instruments for proteomics. The Caltech devices are 'nanoelectromechanical resonators' -- essentially tiny tuning forks about a micron in length and a hundred or so nanometers wide that have a very specific frequency at which they vibrate when excited. Slashdot covered earlier the effort by Cornell for measuring attogram objects which also employs NEMS cantilevers."
It's an April Fool's joke you idiot. Weighing molecules, what idiocy. Like you can make a molecule-sized set of scales to weight it on. Not to mention that molecules don't weight straight down like objects, they float about, so wouldn't press down on the scales. The rest of the article is filled with pseudo-science drivel to try to look clever and hide the fact that they're making the whole thing up.
What happened to the days when April fools stories were at least slightly plausable?