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The invention of the microscope allowed scientists to peer into the tiniest of cells. Now, imagine a device that can not just look into minute cells, but can also listen in on their activities.<\/p>The invention of the microscope allowed scientists to peer into the tiniest of cells. Now, imagine a device that can not just look into minute cells, but can also listen in on their activities.<\/p>
A team of scientists is building a “micro-ear” that uses tiny beads and lasers to amplify and measure vibrations on a molecular scale. The team hopes the new device will become standard lab equipment soon, allowing scientists to listen to the movement of bacteria such as E. coli<\/em> as well as microorganisms that cause diseases like sleeping sickness [The Daily Beast<\/a>].<\/span><\/p> <\/span>The micro-ear is based on an established technology that uses laser light to measure tiny forces. The “optical tweezers” work by suspending very small glass or plastic beads in a beam of laser light. Measuring the movement of these beads as they are jostled by tiny objects allows measurements of tiny forces that operate at molecular scales [BBC<\/a>].<\/span> The optical tweezer is so sensitive, it can measure a piconewton force, which is a millionth of the force that a grain of salt exerts when resting on a tabletop [BBC<\/a>].<\/span> But unlike the optical tweezer, where one single laser beam measures the forces exerted by tiny objects, the micro-ear would use a circle of bead-bearing laser beams to listen to the object in question.<\/p> Scientists say this circle of laser beams can pick up the motion caused by bacteria as they use their flagella to motor forward. That motion causes the ring of electrically-charged beads to wobble by different amounts, and all those wobbles are measured using a high speed camera. That output is then connected to a speaker, so that researchers can hear the bacteria’s vibrations. The device has already picked up Brownian motion<\/a>, letting researchers listen to atoms and molecules sloshing about in a fluid. The new micro-ear could also help scientists understand how harmful bacteria move, and how drugs can be used to stop them in their tracks.<\/p> Join Discover Magazine on Facebook<\/a><\/em>.<\/p> Related Content: Image: iStockphoto<\/em><\/p> The invention of the microscope allowed scientists to peer into the tiniest of cells. Now, imagine a device that can not just look into minute cells, but can also listen in on their activities.A team of scientists is building a … Continue reading
80beats: Dime-Sized Microscope Could Be a Boon for Developing World Health<\/a>
80beats:Microscope-Cell Phone Combo Could Spot Disease in Developing World<\/a>
80beats: New Nano-Scale Imaging Technique Takes Pictures of Viruses in 3-D<\/a>
DISCOVER: World’s Tiniest Scale Can Weigh Individual Molecules<\/a><\/p><\/a>
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