Slashdot Mirror
Periodic Table Etched Onto a Single Hair
adeelarshad82 writes "The University of Nottingham's Nanotechnology Center decided to help Professor of chemistry, Martyn Poliakoff celebrate his special day by 'etching' a copy of a Periodic Table of Elements onto a single strand of the scientist's hair using a 'very sophisticated' electron ion beam microscope. The microscope creates a very fine etching of the periodic table only a few microns across by shooting a 'focused ion beam' of gallium ions at the hair. The technology here is nothing revolutionary, but it is inspiring to see a grown man get so giddy with the prospect of seeing science in action."
That's amazingly useful. Now if only I could carry that book I was meaning to read on a hair in my pocket....
Just in time for the Periodic Table to be changed, making this outdated!
There's a spot in User Info for World of Warcraft account names? Really?
a way to make my dick bigger.
Does anyone have the answers to the final on a hair for me?
...inscribe cheat sheets on hair for next uni exam....
So I says to him, I says, I'd like to see you spell medutermanium, and he goes, right, and so he does, and I am like, wow, coo!
I wonder whether scientists and engineers have a use of resources better aimed to mankind benefit.
But I could be wrong as I'm hairless.
Maybe Computers will never be as intelligent as Humans.
For sure they won't ever become so stupid. [VR-1988]
The professor in the video sounds a bit like Wallace of "Wallace & Grommit" with the "ooh's" and "aah's".
Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
His birthday, if you read the article, but the summary refers back to something that's not been stated. Did anyone even read this submission before posting it?
His birthday, apparently. Wouldn't know from the summary. Did anyone proof read this submission before posting?
so now I just need to burn whatever I want on a hair and carry that across countries, decode it on the other side ...
If you notice a student looking very carefully at her hair, she is probably cheating like this. For enhanced exam security, all body hair must be removed before entering the examination room.
I hate it when I make a joke and I get modded "+5 insightful". Mod the stupid comments "funny", not "insightful", pleas
Now the professors are going to make me cut my hair and shave before every test.
To all of the people who say "Pfft, this is useless!". USE YOUR IMAGINATION.
This could be vital to somebody's education. This could be an important testing step in the development of a nanotech tool. This could accelerate barber science considerably.
The "science in action" is nothing but applied technology. Science is more about testing hypotheses than applying established theories.
Sorry for me being a Science Nazi.
He's got my vote... wow. Just, wow.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
They could encode a cryptographic key, such as the AACS key for HD-DVD/Blu-Ray.
Future archaeologists will unearth this remarkable strand and wonder "Were they bored? Or just really excited about combining electrons and protons?"
When the foot seeks the place of the head, the line is crossed. Know your place. Keep your place. Be a shoe.
With no atomic masses included, this table is useless for cheating on my Chem tests!
http://alternatives.rzero.com/
The next challenge is to use this technique to cheat on exams.
My sig is better than your sig.
Great, now I'm goign to have shave my entire body next time I go to take an exam...
The team from the Nanotechnology and Nanoscience Centre also entered the festive spirit and took advantage of the wintry weather by engraving the words 'Merry Christmas' onto a snowflake. Philip Moriarty, professor of physics, said: 'Although writing on a snowflake is on one hand a bit of seasonal fun, it's also a neat demonstration of the powerful capabilities of the tools that scientists use in the lab on a day-to-day basis.'
What everyone has missed from this particular version of the story is that Nottingham University has a *Professor Moriarty* on their staff!
Call Holmes!
The team from the Nanotechnology and Nanoscience Centre also entered the festive spirit and took advantage of the wintry weather by engraving the words 'Merry Christmas' onto a snowflake.
Philip Moriarty, professor of physics, said: 'Although writing on a snowflake is on one hand a bit of seasonal fun, it's also a neat demonstration of the powerful capabilities of the tools that scientists use in the lab on a day-to-day basis.'
What has been missed from this article is that Nottingham University has a *Professor Moriarty* on its staff, who has access to ion beam equipment!
Call Holmes!
What type of hair was it? My pubic hair are thicker than my head hair.
they get a complete LOC on a single strand of hair.,,
sigs... don't talk to me about sigs....
Saw this on Sciam.com probably two weeks ago, and on fark.com a few days after that...
So, is the approval process just that slow here?
It's all damned lies and statistics!! I mean 47% of all people use statistics to back up their arguments.
It's hard to give a thoughtful gift. The guys at the Nanotechnology Center have done a very excellent job at a tough task. While it doesn't necessarily advance mankind, it made one person's day that much better. I applaud this effort.
Monitor bandwidth usage on IIS6 in real-time: http://www.waetech.com/services/iisbm/
A more impressive feat would be rewriting Tom Lehrer's elements song to accomodate all the new elements of which the news has come to Harvard. Ununseptium doesn't have the lyrical qualities of "Indium" and "Gallium".
I will just write it on my hand like homer simpson.
Martyn Poliakoff says:
I don't think I've ever had any of my hairs put into vacuum before.
- he must have one hairy apartment!
--
On the other hand it would have been even cooler if they stuck a few atoms of each element from the periodic table onto his hair in the right order as well. Bonus points for doing it while the hair is still on his head. More bonus points for doing it to every hair on his head. Extra super bonus points for trying to go through TSA at a local airport with that kind of hair to see what would happen, would they detect things like uranium?
You can't handle the truth.
One of Ozzy's hairs actually *contains* the entire periodic table.
Popular guys who actually get sex would inscribe the book of GENESIS, not this nerdy stuff.
Doesn't it amaze you the lengths that students will go to cheat on their tests? They are now engraving the answers in their hair.
Who would win this election: Andrew Weiner vs Andrew Weiner's weiner.
What's with all the 'quoted phrases' in TFS that imply the reader would have no clue what these highly-scientific terms mean?
'etching' 'very sophisticated' 'focused ion beam'
Reminds me of the Harvey Birdman episode Back to the Present where George Jetson is goin on about how "In the 'future' we use 'computers' to ..."
What he said is very revolutionary. The standard model and presentation is being changed, from Mendeleev time, the isotope average has been fixed, now its a range! Excellent. Science at work. And thanks to all those nerdy element creators! Where do I get one of those totally neerdy Peroidic table coffee cups? When a new element comes out do they print new ones? Nifty!
I loved the option in the on-screen menu 'Insert Omniprobe'... muahahahaha