Molecules Manipulated with Lasers

eldavojohn writes "Scientists have been busy in Ottawa using lasers to manipulate chemical reactions. While this may not seem like an impressive feat, the implications this has for quantum mechanics is quite large. From the article, "According to Albert Stolow, the NRC team leader, the tool used to alter molecular landscapes has implications beyond the control of chemical reactions. One example already mentioned is in the area of quantum information either to directly encode molecular scale information or to control molecular scale switches. Another application is in developing novel forms of optical microscopy of live cells, where quantum control methods can be used to sharpen images, enhance sensitivity and perhaps even perform molecular scale surgery on individual cells. The electric interaction underlying the NRC technique is an essential tool on the quantum mechanic's workbench. Its application to science and technology could reach deep into the quantum world of the ultrasmall." The article in science was where I caught this initially though it doesn't seem to be free anywhere online. The final words of the summary are "suggesting broad applicability" but only time will tell how far our imaginations will use this research."

Comments

lasers

[freewaybear]

That's nothing. I've been using lasers to manipulate my cats for years, and they're a lot bigger than molecules.

Re:lasers

[Flopy]

Oh yeah? Why, back in MY day we used to rub cats' fur to generate the required power for powering bulbs...and the triboelectric effect hadn't even been invented yet!

Spelling?

[AikonMGB]

I know us Canucks like to change all kinds of words like "colour" and "favour", but for the love of Pete, it's spelt "Ottawa"... = / -Aikon

Re:Spelling?

[CRCulver]

How is "colour" and "flavour" changing anything? That's the original English spelling. It was only after 1776 that American orthographical reforms departed from tradition.

Re:Spelling?

[CRCulver]

That's not the case. For one, by 1700, English spelling had ceased to be as individual as in the previous two centuries. Also, even in a time of seemingly arbitrary spelling, there were still clear preferences among the public, and "-our" was (wait for it) favoured.

Re:Spelling?

[CRCulver]

No. In Old French, the Latin ending "-or" became "-our". This spread into Middle English when the French language became houte coutre after the Norman Conquest. English knew only "-our" before the American spelling reform.

Speling

[brasspen]

I think that's Ottawa. As in Canada's capital. There is no "o".

Re:Speling

[gary chund]

No 'O' ?

So it's more like Ttawa? Nice one.

Re:Speling

[Anonymous Coward]

o? I thought Canada's capital was 'C'.

Re:Speling

[KDR_11k]

He's a case insensitive clod!

cool

[macadamia_harold]

That's really cool, but my first question is, how'd they get the sharks to sit still so they could finish the tests?

Ottowa in Canoda?

[Anonymous Coward]

I know Ottawa is the capital of Canada, but where is Ottowa? I think I remember reading somewhere that it is in the small country of Canoda, which is just north of Omerica. I went to the capital of Omerica once. A beautiful city named Woshington.

Re:Ottowa in Canoda?

[EveLibertine]

I think you mean Woshington O.C., which is the capitol of Omerica. Woshington just another state.

New Batteries?

[Salvance]

I'm rather surprised they didn't mention the impact to battery design. If batteries could be designed at the atomic and molecular level, I imagine you could greatly improve their life.

Re:New Batteries?

[kfg]

If batteries could be designed at the atomic and molecular level, I imagine you could greatly improve their life.

They already are; as are fuel cells. The final frontier is making them at the molecular level to power molecular sized machines, so I wouldn't go expecting better battery life from your Nano until it really is.

And I wanna see how Apple handles the interface to that.

KFG

Re:Applications

[kfg]

I want to force a neutron into hydrogen and get deuterium without all that concentrating.

I don't care how hard you have to concentrate, if you can do that under controled conditions there's a million bucks in it for you.

KFG

Re:Applications

[LiquidCoooled]

Given enough curry a man can produce all the gases you care to examine.

I cannot guarantee they will be what you are looking for, but until you check you will never know.

I'm a very untidy quantum mechanic.

[Slur]

Take my quantum workbench. One minute my quantum spanner is there, then it's not there, then it's a superposition of there/not-there. And although my quantum computer has only 27 Qbits, all past and future quantum computers are already networking with it, and I get something like Aleph-One SPAM emails per day.

Re:I'm a very untidy quantum mechanic.

[ScrewMaster]

That's neat. Given that the bulk of your spam will be coming from future quantum computing machines ... can you tell us what products are being used to treat erectile dysfunction, say, a hundred years from now?

Free Online

[Soko]

The article in science was where I caught this initially though it doesn't seem to be free anywhere online.

Google News has a few.

Soko

Re:Molecular Scale Surgery?

[LuNa7ic]

For that reason, this will be unlikely to have a large impact on corrective surgery, however this could make genetic manipulation a lot easier on zygote. If base-pairs between DNA strands could be manipulated individually and precisely, controlled genetic mutation could become feasible in the future.

Enough with the "sharks" tags!

[Mr2001]

Seriously, every story about lasers gets tagged "sharks". Austin Powers came out in 1997, so that tag was barely even funny the first time. It's time to move on.