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MIT Physicists Build World's First Fermion Microscope

Posted by samzenpus on from the all-the-better-to-see-you-with dept.

Zothecula writes: Researchers working at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) claim to have created a method to better observe fermions – the sub-atomic building blocks of matter – by constructing a microscope capable of viewing them in groups of a thousand at a time. A laser technique is used to herd the fermions into a viewing area and then freeze them in place so all of the captured particles can be imaged simultaneously.

31 comments

  1. not the first by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    But actually the third group. The groups of Stefan Kuhr of the University of Strathclyde and Marcus Greiner in Harvard were first.

    1. Re: Not the first by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      +1
      I know all three personally and Martin would probably admit to not being first. Knowing him, he actually claimed doing something more subtle first, but pr departments tend to leave those subtleties out.

  2. rule 34 applies by turkeydance · · Score: 0

    fermions gone wild.

    1. Re:rule 34 applies by sconeu · · Score: 4, Funny

      That's because they've been listening to Barry-White-ions.

      Most scientists don't know about them because you have to search in lower frequency ranges.

      --
      General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
  3. Hmmmm ... by gstoddart · · Score: 3, Interesting

    A laser technique is used to herd the fermions

    So ... do fermions most resemble cows, or cats? I'm confused.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    1. Re:Hmmmm ... by Guy+Harris · · Score: 4, Interesting

      A laser technique is used to herd the fermions

      So ... do fermions most resemble cows, or cats? I'm confused.

      Well, fermions are called that because they exhibit Fermi-Dirac statistics, so they're arguably more like cats than cows.

    2. Re:Hmmmm ... by gdshaw · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Fermions => cats

      Bosons => cows

      (Bosons can be herded into the same quantum state, fermions cannot on account of the Pauli exclusion principle.)

    3. Re:Hmmmm ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Well, assuming a spherical cow..

    4. Re:Hmmmm ... by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      Here's an sample specimen, but why would anybody want to see these annoying creatures up close?

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
    5. Re:Hmmmm ... by Bob+the+Super+Hamste · · Score: 2

      A new standard has been set. Now I will demand a cat/cow analogy every time. Seriously this makes it clear why this is neat, at least to me it did.

      --
      Time to offend someone
    6. Re:Hmmmm ... by IMightB · · Score: 1

      Where's BadAnalogyGuy when you need him?

    7. Re:Hmmmm ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Also you have the lesser known Shrodinger's Cow. It involves where you don't know if the cow in the box is alive or dead, but since the box is small, you just assume it contains a hamburger.

    8. Re:Hmmmm ... by sconeu · · Score: 1

      MIA since 2011, according to his profile page.

      --
      General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
    9. Re:Hmmmm ... by matfud · · Score: 1

      That is McDonalds.

    10. Re: Hmmmm ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't wanna be an American idiot- badadadumdadumdadadumduh

      And you would be...?

    11. Re:Hmmmm ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Once large herds of fermions used to roam free the quantum fields
      Then white man came

    12. Re:Hmmmm ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fermions => cats

      Bosons => cows

      (Bosons can be herded into the same quantum state, fermions cannot on account of the Pauli exclusion principle.)

      In other words:
      Fermions => Felines
      Bosons => Bovines

    13. Re:Hmmmm ... by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 1

      Fermions => cats

      Bosons => cows

      Bosons heavy and rare which I argue is more like a Ancient Psychic Tandem War Elephant

      --
      Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    14. Re:Hmmmm ... by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      That is perfectly valid in the Furbian dialect of English.

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
  4. Yo Dawg by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I herd you liked lasers on your subparticles.......

  5. How Much New Information? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How much new information do such images provide? They look little different than the random distribution one gets dropping orange sand on black paper.

    1. Re:How Much New Information? by matfud · · Score: 1

      Stupid question.

      If you drop orange sand on black paper what would you see? Do you see what you expected? cool you have just added evidence to your hypothesis as to how you dropped your sand and what outcome that would have.

    2. Re: How Much New Information? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How do they know they are seeing what they think they are seeing? That kind of information is always missing from articles.

  6. This was on Gizmag 24 hours ago... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Like half the other articles on 'climatedot'...

  7. Hmmm... by Kozar_The_Malignant · · Score: 1

    My microscope is machined steel and a bit of plastic. I never heard of one made of fermions.

    --
    Some mornings it's hardly worth chewing through the restraints to get out of bed.
  8. MIT does something by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    MIT does something and normally I would think "good for them". But then I think of Aaron Schwartz, and then my reply is "Fucking rat bastards!"

    So the story is Microscope-Fermion and my thoughts are: "Fucking Rat Bastards kill for their own greed. The taxpayer funded this they take the money build something, then double bill the taxpayer, and if anyone tries to correct their greed, they have them killed. Fucking Rat Bastards!"

  9. Yo Dawg by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yo Dawg, I herd you herd fermion, so.. ehh, so...

  10. Not the first one by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Electrons are fermions too and we already have electron microscopes. This is not the "first fermion microscope", the title is misleading...

  11. Not the first by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It was a tight race, and I don't really think it matters much who did it first. But claimimng it's the "World's First Fermion Microscope" is not entriely correct. the first ones to actually submit their data to the ArXiv, which usually is used as a measure of "Who did it first" were the guys in Stefan Kuhrs Group at U of Strathclyde.

    Kuhr, University of Strathclyde: http://arxiv.org/abs/1503.02005 submitted 6. March
    Zwierlein, MIT: http://arxiv.org/abs/1503.02648 submitted 9. March
    Greiner, Harvard: http://arxiv.org/abs/1504.04397 submitted 16. April