Seeking Art in Science

Summer
These nanowires — molecular structures with a diameter smaller than a billionth of a meter — were grown like "grass in the springtime" by synthesizing nickel, according to Nan Yao and Gerald Poirier, who created the image with an environmental scanning electron microscope. While nanowires are still in an experimental stage, they may one day be used to link extremely small circuits in environmental and health sensors or other molecular machines.

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