First X-Ray of a Single Atom

There are size limits to knowledge; for example, we can’t say much about the world as it exists smaller than the electron scale because electrons are the smallest things we know how to manipulate. Thus, an electron microscope works on stuff electrons bounce off of, but not on stuff so small that they push it out of the way. 

Here’s a size limit being transcended. Pretty neat stuff. 

2 comments:

Texan99 said...

I couldn't get an image to load, but here's a link with an image. Very cool. https://mymodernmet.com/x-ray-single-atom/

douglas said...

If I'm understanding correctly, and I have only a little confidence that I am, it's not so much an X-ray picture of an atom as using x-ray reactions to locate the boundaries and define them. In some ways similar to using gravity effects to locate black holes you can't see.