The phrase, “only 90’s kids will remember” is thrown around a lot these days but it is safe to say most people born in the 80’s and onward have seen those big pits filled with colorful plastic balls. A staple of almost anyone’s childhood, this pit is, of course, the aptly named Ball Pit (Figure …
How Many Molecules Can Fit On the Surface of a Round Nanoparticle?
This post is part of our ongoing series of public-friendly summaries describing research articles that have been published by members of the Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology. Marco Torelli, a doctoral student at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, was the first author on this paper and collaborated on the study with CSN researchers at the University …
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Nobel 2014: What makes super-resolution microscopy so super?
The awarding of the 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Dr.s Betzig, Hell, and Moerner (my former research mentor) is a tremendous event! It is almost as tremendous as their scientific targets are tiny: they were awarded the prize for super-resolution fluorescence microscopy, a technique for using a light microscope to examine objects as small …
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Laser Science. Light Can Do Way More Than Just Bend
You’ve heard about how lasers work, but what does this mean for science?! We see everyday how light interacts with matter. Ever wonder how a rainbow is formed? Or why your straw looks bent or even broken when it is placed in a cup of water? Both of these phenomena have to do with light …
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“How do Lasers Work?” or “Not your father’s lightsaber”
When Luke Skywalker receives his father’s lightsaber from Obi Wan in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, he learns that it is “not as random or clumsy as a blaster; an elegant weapon for a more civilized age.” Here at our Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology, we don’t work with weapons, no matter how sophisticated …
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