Scientists have developed a carbon nanotube sensor that can weigh
individual molecules with exceptional accuracy. Researchers in
California, US, attached a carbon nanotube to an electrode, leaving the
other end free to spring up and down. When a molecule is placed on the
nanotube, its vibrations change and this is used to determine the
molecule's weight. The nanotube weighing machine is accurate to 40%
of the weight of a single gold atom (Nature Nanotechnology
doi:10.1038/nnano.2008.200).
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