The first video of individual atoms bonding and breaking

Can someone explain this to the uninitiated? I remember when that black hole picture came out, it turned out actually to be: "how this algorithm we invented generates an image of a black hole", so not really a "picture" in the colloquial sense.

Here I'm having trouble understanding how we could actually "record video" of a bond forming and I'm not even sure the words "record" and "video" are what I think they mean. For instance, could the frame rate of our video-recording technology really be high enough to "capture" something that probably happens near-instantaneously? And what "wavelength" is the light used to record these videos -- wouldn't it need to be tinier than the kind of light we usually use, in order to capture atoms? I'm sorry if this is vague, but I don't know enough terms to pose this question rigorously.

Re: The first video of individual atoms bonding and breaking

#7

Post by detaro » Sun, Jan 19, 2020, 12:22 AM UTC

c1ccccc1 wrote: post #5

Original paper: https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/3/eaay5849

and university press release this article seems based on: https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/news/walking-with-atoms

Re: The first video of individual atoms bonding and breaking

#8

Post by friendlybus » Sun, Jan 19, 2020, 3:32 AM UTC

_jasper wrote: post #6

Can someone explain this to the uninitiated? I remember when that black hole picture came out, it turned out actually to be: "how this algorithm we invented generates an image of a black hole", so not really a "picture" in the colloquial sense. Here I'm having trouble understanding how we could actually "record video" of a bond forming and I'm not even sure the words "record" and "video" are what I think they mean. F…

For the lazy it's a next level microscope making a short video of two 0.2nm black dots jamming into each other, walled in by grey carbon nanotubes.

They used TEM for imaging. https://www.umassmed.edu/cemf/whatisem/

Read the article, it didn't capture the minutia of a bond happening, just a few frames of what atoms look like when they do bond.

Re: The first video of individual atoms bonding and breaking

#9

Post by lysp » Sun, Jan 19, 2020, 5:51 AM UTC

friendlybus wrote: post #8

_jasper wrote: post #6

Can someone explain this to the uninitiated? I remember when that black hole picture came out, it turned out actually to be: "how this algorithm we invented generates an image of a black hole", so not really a "picture" in the colloquial sense. Here I'm having trouble understanding how we could actually "record video" of a bond forming and I'm not even sure the words "record" and "video" are what I think they mean. F…

For the lazy it's a next level microscope making a short video of two 0.2nm black dots jamming into each other, walled in by grey carbon nanotubes. They used TEM for imaging. https://www.umassmed.edu/cemf/whatisem/ Read the article, it didn't capture the minutia of a bond happening, just a few frames of what atoms look like when they do bond.

And 0.2nm is 1mm divided by 5 million.

And the other way 1g of rhenium contains 3234111231049296000000 atoms (3.23 x 10^21).

This experiment is looking at the joining of 2 individual atoms.

Re: The first video of individual atoms bonding and breaking

#10

Post by d0mine » Sun, Jan 19, 2020, 7:23 AM UTC

_jasper wrote: post #6

Can someone explain this to the uninitiated? I remember when that black hole picture came out, it turned out actually to be: "how this algorithm we invented generates an image of a black hole", so not really a "picture" in the colloquial sense. Here I'm having trouble understanding how we could actually "record video" of a bond forming and I'm not even sure the words "record" and "video" are what I think they mean. F…

> how this algorithm we invented generates an image of a black hole", so not really a "picture" in the colloquial sense.

It is not as artificial as it appears.

What people see with their own eyes is an image generated by their brain using algorithms shaped by evolution.