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Home-Built Scanning Tunneling Microscope (2015)

dberard.com

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Re: Home-Built Scanning Tunneling Microscope (2015)

#71

Post by pretendscholar »

hintymad wrote: post #56

The geek culture in the US is simply amazing. People build all kinds of miraculous machineries at home, many of which have become world-class products. Some products even changed the history of mankind. What's even more amazing is that the US somehow keeps this culture despite decades of mockery and bullying from the pop culture and from school, and despite that generations of Americans thought that the biggest event…

I think you are stuck on hollywood from 30 years ago. It's cool to be a geek now lose the persecution complex.

Re: Home-Built Scanning Tunneling Microscope (2015)

#72

Post by crispyambulance »

jacquesm wrote: post #49
crispyambulance wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But its not showing things directly, is it? I don't understand the downvotes. That's an honest fundamental question. It's not "showing things directly" because it can't. The limit of what you can see with light is proportional to the wavelength of the light (this is called the diffraction limit). For visible light and lens-based optics that's around 1/2 micron. The distance between the atoms in that graphite is ~3…

> I don't understand the downvotes. Because the comment is factually wrong. Because it tries to argue something in bad faith. > That's an honest fundamental question. But it wasn't a question, it was a statement, and a faulty one at that. Best case interpretation would require substituting 'current' for 'frequency' and even then it would be inaccurate because the current is a proxy for the Z-distance to the tip which…

My intent was just to help clear the misconception. Sometimes people say things that sound flippant when they lack an understanding.

Re: Home-Built Scanning Tunneling Microscope (2015)

#73

Post by [deleted] »

crispyambulance wrote: post #48
feralimal wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sure its a cool project. But its not showing things directly, is it? Its interpreting a frequency and converting that to an image. Is it really that different to a music visualiser?

> But its not showing things directly, is it? I don't understand the downvotes. That's an honest fundamental question. It's not "showing things directly" because it can't. The limit of what you can see with light is proportional to the wavelength of the light (this is called the diffraction limit). For visible light and lens-based optics that's around 1/2 micron. The distance between the atoms in that graphite is ~3…

[deleted]

Re: Home-Built Scanning Tunneling Microscope (2015)

#75

Post by hellbannedguy »

Reminds me of a Craigslist ad I saw a few years ago.

U.C Berkeley bought a new electron scanning microscope, and offered the old one free to anyone who wanted it. The ad right there with the free couches, and nicknacks.

I probably couldn’t afford to get it working, but I think about it often.

Could you imagine having a scanning electron microscope in your bedroom?

Re: Home-Built Scanning Tunneling Microscope (2015)

#76

Post by vajrabum »

kiba wrote: post #67
hintymad wrote: post #56

The geek culture in the US is simply amazing. People build all kinds of miraculous machineries at home, many of which have become world-class products. Some products even changed the history of mankind. What's even more amazing is that the US somehow keeps this culture despite decades of mockery and bullying from the pop culture and from school, and despite that generations of Americans thought that the biggest event…

Is this simply a trope made up and amplified by hollywood?

Less smart Americans often have little respect for their smarter compatriots or their smarter compatriot's opinions. That isn't new. Ever hear the term egghead? Modern propaganda about climate and infectious disease have exacerbated the problem.

Re: Home-Built Scanning Tunneling Microscope (2015)

#77

Post by JabavuAdams »

feralimal wrote: post #19
jacquesm wrote: post #15

I think I'm going to build this with my kids. What better way to show them atoms than to actually make them build a microscope that shows you the things directly?

I'm sure its a cool project. But its not showing things directly, is it? Its interpreting a frequency and converting that to an image. Is it really that different to a music visualiser?

Why are you hung up on these uses of the words "seeing", "showing"? What would you expect as a better alternative.

Re: Home-Built Scanning Tunneling Microscope (2015)

#78

Post by JabavuAdams »

feralimal wrote: post #23
minitoar wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, what is your brain doing if not that?

You don't think there's a difference between what you see with your naked eye, and what is visualised for you by sensors and software?

There are an incredible number of recurrent top-down connections in your vision processing areas. You do not really see what's there in any meaningful way. What you see is heavily conditioned on what other modules of your brain "expect" to see.

Consider foveated vision. The idea that you can actually see what is going on on your desk all at the same time is an illusion.

Re: Home-Built Scanning Tunneling Microscope (2015)

#79

Post by dang »

craftinator wrote: post #62
feralimal wrote: post #25

Yes, look at all that squashed DNA, lol. Seriously though, how do we know that is DNA? It just looks like wiggly worms. And the DNA pic is black and white, but the picture of graphite is in colour. How is it in colour? Is it 'enhanced' with photoshop or something?

Donald, who let you on HN?

Please don't do this here.
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