This is the highest-resolution image of atoms ever seen

Nice.

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I am definitely going to use this excuse for my own poor photography.

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We’ll have to crack one open and take a look!

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If you’re taking a photo of a mountain, you can look at the photo and then the mountain and say, “that’s a good reproduction.” Or not. Since we can’t see atoms, what we’re comparing against is our idea of atoms. So the headline should be updated to “photo which most closely matches our current idea of atoms.”

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The only blurring you see in the image is caused by the atoms actually jiggling.

This is the same reason there are no good pictures of my butt.

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It’s neat how they are arranged in that pattern

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Hey inorganic chem nerds! Here is a guide to what atoms are pictured.

PrScO3 is the formula for this compound (aka praseodymium orthoscandate)
The Yellow atoms are Pr (Praseodymium)
The Red ones are Sc (Scandium)
The superfaint black dots in the grid are oxygen!..I’m so stoked to be alive to witness this.

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true but how long until we can get an image of a quark?

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I could draw you one now but I’m a bit busy. Will a sketch of an angel suffice?

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Are half of the Pr atoms (well, I guess 2/3) members of pairs? Or are we seeing something else here?

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