When light loses symmetry, it can hold particles

Optical tweezers use light to immobilize microscopic particles as small as a single atom in 3D space. The basic principle behind optical tweezers is the momentum transfer between light and the object being held. Analogous ...

Illuminating a biological light switch

Using an innovative new imaging technique, researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine have revealed the inner workings of a family of light-sensing molecules in unprecedented detail and speed. The work could inform new strategies ...

Visualizing atomic-scale structures with the optical force

A team of scientists led by the Department of Applied Physics at Osaka University, the Department of Physics and Electronics at Osaka Prefecture University, and the Department of Materials Chemistry at Nagoya University used ...

Gaia: Most accurate data ever for nearly two billion stars

Today (3 December), an international team of astronomers announced the most detailed ever catalogue of the stars in a huge swathe of our Milky Way galaxy. The measurements of stellar positions, movement, brightness and coloursĀ are ...

Physicists nudge atoms within less than a trillionth of a second

Scientists from Regensburg and Zurich have found a fascinating way to push an atom with controlled forces so quickly that they can choreograph the motion of a single molecule within less than a trillionth of a second. The ...

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