Dead Simple

‘Dead Simple’ Way to see atomic structure

             The professor and students at Caltech used a technique to visualize the structure of molecules. They wanted to see how water coats surfaces at room temperature. They discovered that it turns into islands of ice. The impact that it has on society is that even at room temperature layers of water will form ice like microscopic island. They recognize the significance of the water molecules and how they got them to stop moving just enough time for them to study them. They have found or discovered some unexpected things that they didn’t think they would see.  It sounds like to me the more pieces you have the bigger picture you’ll be able to see.

         The technique that they call it is dead simple. The method is sort of like how people sputter carbon or gold onto biological cells so they can image them. The carbon or gold fixes the cells. Here, the graphene perfectly templates the weakly adsorbed water molecules on the surface and holds them in place, for up to a couple of months at least.