Electron microscopes are murder on their subjects, because the devices work only in a vacuum. Now, researchers at the University of California at San Diego have developed a more tender way to study tiny life.
In the new system, an intense but harmless laser burst illuminates the specimen--such as this bit of algae, just 1/250 inch wide. Atoms in the specimen resonate in response to the laser and generate a pulse of light. By sweeping a laser through the algae and plotting the return signals, scientists crafted this detailed image without creating laboratory carnage.
In the new system, an intense but harmless laser burst illuminates the specimen--such as this bit of algae, just 1/250 inch wide. Atoms in the specimen resonate in response to the laser and generate a pulse of light. By sweeping a laser through the algae and plotting the return signals, scientists crafted this detailed image without creating laboratory carnage.
