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Clocking the Movements of Atoms
Roland Piquepaille writes "With special microscopes, scientists and engineers involved in nanotechnologies have been able to 'see' atoms for a while. But they couldn't clock the atomic response to events which typically occur in nanoseconds. Now, U.S. physicists have found a way to clock the movements of atoms at the nanometer scale. In their experiments, they were able to literally watch atoms switching positions in ferroelectric materials. Adding the dimension of time to the observation of the nanoworld could lead to easier developments of 'materials for improved memory applications in microelectronics.'"
"In their experiments, they were able to literally watch atoms switching positions in ferroelectric materials."
I'd have just unplugged all the atoms, and when plugged in again, they'd all start counting from 12:00
Oh You POS
I guess they'll finally be able to see the microscopic chance of the average Slashdot reader getting laid.
Now, I'm never one to complain about the decisions of /. editors (and I'm not here either), but it's pretty funny seeing this in the hardware sections.
Maybe Ars Technica will have a review later...
TFA? Yeah, it's worth reading. It's pretty cool the toys these guys (physicists in general) get to play with.
*Femto*second laser spectroscopy has been available for some time now to investigate chemical reactions that happen much faster than nanoseconds. Got the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1999 for Zewail.
How fast is one nanometer per nanosecond, in meters per second? I don't have my calculator with me.
If this happens will they be able to screw with my atomic watch?
Dude, he totally fooled your sorry ass.
1 nanometre/nanosecond is 1 m/s.
Think of nm/ns as:
(1E-9)m/(1E-9)s
Notice that 1E-9/1E-9 cancels to 1! So you get m/s.
1 nm/ns is 1 m/s.
In soviet russia, atoms clock movement of YOU!
You're right, he fooled me, I didn't see he was joking. I just assumed he was American, or worked at NASA so he didn't know metric.
1,000,000,000/1,000,000,000 of course = 1/1 but not everyknow would know that a nanosecond is a billionth of a second.
Oh You POS
There are already plenty of ways to "see" the motions of atoms which do not require a very expensive national X-ray source. This technique is not comparable to AFM and STM, which are now cheap enough to use in teaching labs.
Yes, but that didn't get our favorite re-hash submitter Roland Piquepaille some hits to his web log.
Please help metamoderate.
"Of course it was a joke--it's the same fucking prefix."
Not everyone is smart enough to realize that identical prefixes cancel each other out, let alone know the meaning of "condescending" or "fuckwad" well enough to avoid appearing to be exactly that by picking a fight anonymously on the Interweb.
Oh You POS
Maybe we couldn't physically see how atoms are moving over short time intervals, but we've been able to simulate it for quite a while. I used to run simulations at Sandia National Labs in New Mexico that looked at the interactions of a couple dozen atoms on a femtosecond scale.
they were able to literally watch atoms switching positions in ferroelectric materials
For a second there, I assumed that they'd built a microsope that could only figuratively watch things. Good job you pointed out that it literally works!
Not everyone is smart enough to realize that identical prefixes cancel each other out
wow you sure are smart
What about overclocking those babies?! Whooo!
No longer will atoms be bogged down at the n00b 'factory-spec' speed of light.
Now to find the multiplier...
Everything I need to know about copyrights I learned from Slashdot.
This opens a new source of funding from speeding atoms:
COPper atom: Do you know how fast you were going?
Helium atom (in a high voice): Not at all, officer!
So wait, are you actually suggesting that you're not condescending? Not that I give a shit, but your comments have pretty much been the definition of condescending.
You're only a fuckwad if you try to say claim otherwise.
<xml><I><am><so><damn>Web 2.0</damn></so></am></I></xml>
Does this have to do anything with the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle?
Wake me up when we're OVERclocking atoms.
Simulation is fine, but it isn't always applicable. Especially when working with exotic materials, where the umpteen parameters required for a simulation to produce useful and accurate results are not known, simulation may fall short. It's one thing to make predictions based on simulation, but another to be able to verify those predictions.
Don't get me wrong. Simulations are wonderful tools but, since they are many times (as I assume they are in this case) based solely on theory, experimental measurements are very useful to corroborate the results of and/or improve upon the methods of those tools.
The U.S.A. is better and smarter than your country and N.A.S.A. is better than your space agency, assuming your country has one that is.
I figure if they're close to figuring out the timing of atoms then it won't be long before they should be able to tell and predict where these atoms will be next.
Won't be long now fellow geeks...
Soon, Tranporters!
And then, Replicators!
Saying this as a friend, just remember that pride will come before the fall. Don't focus on your ego, but rather on making this a better world in general. (it could also improve the position of your country in this world...)
It's nothing to do with metric, and it's nothing to do with "a nanosecond is a billionth ...", you're digging your hole deeper dude, you're trying to point out stupidity of others when you're the only one here who's made an error.
The revolution will not be televised... but it will have a page on Wikipedia
Actually nanoseconds does have to do with metric. I admitted that I didn't notice he was joking, because it's common to encounter people who don't understand unit cancel, or metric concepts.
Oh You POS
Ok, anonymous coward, key word being coward. I was simply replying to someone's jealous comments, which in themselves were better suited for your post. I was defending my country, and I'll do it until it goes down in the flames of jealousy, either from with in or out.
602 214 150 000 000 000 000 000
considered small?!
Human being (n.): A genetically human, genetically distinct, functioning organism.
Looks like they finally killed Schroedingers cat!----meowwwwwwww!