Oxford student uses ordinary camera to capture atom in prize-winning photograph

We can photograph an atom but still no clear pictures of Sasquatch.

First woman that saw it...

"I thought it'd be bigger"

I'm going to call bullshite

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Atoms are extremely small, typically around 100 picometers across. A human hair is about a million carbon atoms wide.

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We can photograph an atom but still no clear pictures of Sasquatch.

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I'm calling bullshite

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Technically it is not a picture of the atom but re-emitted light. This is different from light reflected off an object which we normally think of as a picture of said object.


ETA let me try to explain this better:

Imagine taking a picture of a 1/2" diameter flashlight pointed directly at you from a mile away. It is unlikely it would appear on the image if the flashlight is off. Turn it on and if the flashlight is bright enough and the ambient light is low enough you will see it clearly. However, that is not a picture of the flashlight itself nor is this a picture of the atom itself, though it is fair to call it that casually. The laser is exciting electrons in the strontium atom by absorbing photons. When those atoms return to their natural energy state the photons are released and the camera pick them up. This happens very quickly like fluorescence and not slowly and randomly like phosphorescent material.

This is unlikely photoshop as the science is solid but it is also a leap to suggest that it is technically taking a picture of the atom as some (most?) would think of a picture. It is imaging the atom.

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We can photograph an atom but still no clear pictures of Sasquatch.

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Or, get a clear pic of 95% of liquor store robbers.

When I was in college I couldn’t even make a fake ID that looked right.

I can see the God particle.

I knew it.

I need to know it’s pronouns before forming an opinion.