For example, the behaviour
of microscopic objects described in quantum mechanics is very different from our everyday experience, which may provoke some degree of incredulity.
It uses the pressure of a highly focused laser beam to levitate and manipulate delicate
microscopic objects such as viruses, bacteria and DNA strands without causing them damage.
Specific topics include the abilities to recognize, sort and transport important molecules; sense the environment; alter shape or surface texture; generate onboard energy to power effective robotic functions; communicate with doctors, patients, and other nanorobots; navigate throughout the human body;
manipulate microscopic objects and move about inside a human body; and timekeep, perform computations, disable living cells and viruses, and operate at various pressures and temperatures.
Scientists have been making holograms of
microscopic objects for decades, but it has always been hard to extract useful information from them.
In tests, Zhao and doctoral student Kang Wei demonstrated that the lens was able to switch its focus
among microscopic objects arranged at different distances.
Being able to see this superfast interaction between electrons gives scientists another tool to unlock the rules that govern the quantum - mechanics world — a world
where microscopic objects don't obey the laws of physics we have come to rely on for understanding in the macro world.
They then dragged each bead across a cell using optical tweezers, a technique that employs a highly focused laser beam to physically
move microscopic objects.
Their respective theoretical and experimental studies investigate
how microscopic objects lose their quantum - mechanical properties through interactions with the environment.
In Art Forms of Nature, he re-illustrated some of
the microscopic objects he had seen 20 to 30 years previously, but here he showed them on a black background.
An X-ray beam of such intensity will, of course, destroy
any microscopic object it irradiates, but with free - electron lasers the diffraction event is faster than the coulombic explosion, so data can still be obtained.
This unique combination enables the handling of liquid volumes at the femtoliter scale (10 — 15 l), as well as force controlled manipulations of
microscopic objects.