We invite you to evaluate the pictures of the finalists claiming the title of "Photographer of the Year" by the Royal Photographic Society. The winner will be announced on October 7, and the exhibition of the best works will be held from October 7 to January 5 at the Science Museum in London.
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Soap Bubble Structure by Kim Cox
Soap bubbles optimize the space inside themselves and minimize their surface area for a given volume of air. This makes them a useful object of study in many areas, in particular, in the field of materials science. The walls of the bubbles seem to flow down under the action of gravity: they are thin at the top and thick at the bottom.
"Marking on Oxygen Molecules" by Yasmine Crawford
The image is part of the author's latest major project for a master's degree in photography at Falmouth University, where the focus was on myalgic encephalomyelitis. Crawford says he creates images that connect us to the ambiguous and the unknown.
"Calm of eternity", author Evgeny Samuchenko
The picture was taken in the Himalayas on Lake Gosaikunda at an altitude of 4400 meters. The Milky Way is a galaxy that includes our solar system: a vague streak of light in the night sky.
"Confused Flour Beetle" by David Spears
This small pest beetle infests cereals and flour products. The image was taken with a Scanning Electron Micrograph and then colored in Photoshop.
The North America Nebula by Dave Watson
The North America Nebula NGC7000 is an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus. The shape of the nebula resembles the shape of North America - you can even see the Gulf of Mexico.
Stag Beetle by Victor Sikora
The photographer used light microscopy with a magnification of five times.
Lovell Telescope by Marge Bradshaw
“I have been fascinated by the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank ever since I saw it on a school field trip,” says Bradshaw. She wanted to take some more detailed photos to show his wear.
"Jellyfish Upside Down" by Mary Ann Chilton
Instead of swimming, this species spends its time pulsing in the water. The color of jellyfish is the result of eating algae.
Physicists from the United States managed to capture individual atoms in a photo with a record resolution, Day.Az reports with reference to Vesti.ru
Scientists from Cornell University in the United States managed to capture individual atoms in a photo with a record resolution of less than half an angstrom (0.39 Å). Previous photographs had half the resolution - 0.98 Å.
Powerful electron microscopes that can see atoms have been around for half a century, but their resolution is limited by the long wavelength of visible light, which is larger than the diameter of an average atom.
Therefore, scientists use a kind of analogue of lenses that focus and magnify the image in electron microscopes - they are a magnetic field. However, fluctuations in the magnetic field distort the result. To remove distortions, additional devices are used that correct the magnetic field, but at the same time increase the complexity of the design of the electron microscope.
Previously, physicists at Cornell University developed the Electron Microscope Pixel Array Detector (EMPAD), which replaces a complex system of generators that focus incoming electrons with a single small 128x128 pixel array that is sensitive to individual electrons. Each pixel registers the angle of electron reflection; knowing it, scientists use ptyicography to reconstruct the characteristics of the electrons, including the coordinates of the point from which it was released.
Atoms in the highest resolution
David A. Muller et al. Nature, 2018.
In the summer of 2018, physicists decided to improve the quality of the resulting images to a record-breaking resolution to date. Scientists fixed a sheet of 2D material - molybdenum sulfide MoS2 - on a movable beam, and released electron beams by turning the beam at different angles to the electron source. Using EMPAD and ptyicography, scientists determined the distances between individual molybdenum atoms and obtained an image with a record resolution of 0.39 Å.
"In fact, we have created the smallest ruler in the world," explains Sol Gruner (Sol Gruner), one of the authors of the experiment. In the resulting image, it was possible to see sulfur atoms with a record resolution of 0.39 Å. Moreover, we even managed to see the place where one such atom is missing (indicated by an arrow).
Sulfur atoms at record resolution
Until now, scientists could only assume the presence of molecular structures. Today, with the help of atomic force microscopy, the individual atomic bonds (each a few tens of millionths of a millimeter long) connecting a molecule (26 carbon atoms and 14 hydrogen atoms) can be seen quite clearly.
Initially, the team wanted to work with structures made from graphene, a single-layer material in which carbon atoms are arranged in hexagonal patterns. Forming honeycombs of carbon, the atoms are rearranged from a linear chain into hexagons; this reaction can produce several different molecules.
Felix Fischer, a chemist at the University of California at Berkeley, and his colleagues wanted to visualize the molecules to make sure they got it right.
A ringed, carbon-containing molecule, shown before and after reorganization with the two most common reaction products at temperatures above 90 degrees Celsius. Size: 3 angstroms or three to ten billionths of a meter across.
In order to document the graphene recipe, Fisher needed a powerful imaging device and turned to an atomic force microscope that Michael Crommie of the University of California lab had.
Non-contact atomic force microscopy (NC-AFM) uses a very thin and sensitive sensor to sense the electrical force generated by molecules. The tip moves near the surface of the molecule, being deflected by different charges, creating an image of how the atoms move.
The single-atom tip of a non-contact atomic force microscope "probes" the surface with a sharp needle. The needle moves along the surface of the object under study, just as the phonograph needle passes through the grooves of a record. In addition to atoms, it is possible to "probe" atomic bonds
So the team managed not only to visualize carbon atoms, but also the bonds between them created by shared electrons. They placed carbon ring structures on a silver plate and heated it to reorganize the molecule. The refrigerated reaction products contained three unexpected products and only one molecule expected by scientists.
The H2O water molecule consists of one oxygen atom covalently bonded to two hydrogen atoms.In the water molecule, the main character is the oxygen atom.
Since hydrogen atoms noticeably repel each other, the angle between the chemical bonds (lines connecting the nuclei of atoms) hydrogen - oxygen is not straight (90 °), but a little more - 104.5 °.
The chemical bonds in the water molecule are polar, since oxygen pulls negatively charged electrons towards itself, and hydrogen pulls positively charged electrons. As a result, an excess negative charge accumulates near the oxygen atom, and a positive charge near the hydrogen atoms.
Therefore, the entire water molecule is a dipole, that is, a molecule with two opposite poles. The dipole structure of the water molecule largely determines its unusual properties.
The water molecule is a diamagnet.
If you connect the epicenters of positive and negative charges with straight lines, you get a three-dimensional geometric figure - a tetrahedron. This is the structure of the water molecule itself.
When the state of the water molecule changes, the length of the sides and the angle between them change in the tetrahedron.
For example, if a water molecule is in a vapor state, then the angle formed by its sides is 104°27". In the water state, the angle is 105°03". And in the state of ice, the angle is 109.5°.
Geometry and dimensions of the water molecule for various states
a - for the vapor state
b - for the lowest vibrational level
c - for a level close to the formation of an ice crystal, when the geometry of the water molecule corresponds to the geometry of two Egyptian triangles with an aspect ratio of 3: 4: 5
d - for the state of ice.
If we divide these angles in half, we get the angles:
104°27": 2 = 52°13",
105°03": 2 = 52°31",
106°16": 2 = 53°08",
109.5°: 2 = 54°32".
This means that among the geometric patterns of the molecule of water and ice is the famous Egyptian triangle, which is based on the golden ratio - the lengths of the sides are related as 3:4:5 with an angle of 53 ° 08 ".
The water molecule acquires the structure of the golden ratio on the way, when the water turns into ice, and vice versa, when the ice melts. Obviously, melt water is valued for this state when its structure in construction has the proportions of the golden section.
Now it becomes clear that the famous Egyptian triangle with an aspect ratio of 3:4:5 is "taken" from one of the states of the water molecule. The very same geometry of the water molecule is formed by two Egyptian right triangles with a common leg equal to 3.
The water molecule, which is based on the ratio of the golden ratio, is a physical manifestation of the Divine Nature, which is involved in the creation of life. That is why the earthly nature contains the harmony that is inherent in the entire cosmos.
And so the ancient Egyptians deified the numbers 3, 4, 5, and the triangle itself was considered sacred and tried to lay its properties, its harmony in any structure, houses, pyramids, and even in the marking of fields. By the way, Ukrainian huts were also built using the golden ratio.
In space, a water molecule occupies a certain volume, and is covered with an electron shell in the form of a veil. If we imagine the view of a hypothetical model of a molecule in a plane, then it looks like the wings of a butterfly, like an X-shaped chromosome, in which the life program of a living being is recorded. And this is an indicative fact that water itself is an indispensable element of all living things.
If we imagine the hypothetical model of a water molecule in volume, then it conveys the shape of a triangular pyramid, which has 4 faces, and each face has 3 edges. In geometry, a triangular pyramid is called a tetrahedron. Such a structure is characteristic of crystals.
Thus, the water molecule forms a strong corner structure, which it retains even when it is in a vapor state, on the verge of transition to ice, and when it turns into ice.
If the "skeleton" of the water molecule is so stable, then its energy "pyramid" - the tetrahedron also stands unshakable.
Such structural properties of the water molecule under various conditions are explained by strong bonds between two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. This bond is about 25 times stronger than the bond between adjacent water molecules. Therefore, it is easier to separate one water molecule from another, for example, when heated, than to destroy the water molecule itself.
Due to orientational, induction, dispersion interactions (van der Waals forces) and hydrogen bonds between hydrogen and oxygen atoms of neighboring molecules, water molecules are able to form as random associates, i.e. not having an ordered structure, and clusters are associates having a certain structure.
According to statistics, in ordinary water there are random associates - 60% (destructured water) and clusters - 40% (structured water).
As a result of research conducted by the Russian scientist S. V. Zenin, stable long-lived water clusters were discovered.
Zenin found that water molecules initially form a dodecahedron. Four dodecahedrons joining together form the main structural element of water - a cluster consisting of 57 water molecules.
In a cluster, dodecahedrons have common faces, and their centers form a regular tetrahedron. This is a bulk compound of water molecules, including hexamers, which has positive and negative poles.
Hydrogen bridges allow water molecules to combine in a variety of ways. Due to this, an infinite variety of clusters is observed in the water.
Clusters can interact with each other due to free hydrogen bonds, which leads to the appearance of second-order structures in the form of hexagons. They consist of 912 water molecules, which are practically incapable of interaction. The lifetime of such a structure is very long.
This structure, similar to a small sharp ice crystal of 6 rhombic faces, S.V. Zenin called it “the main structural element of water.” Numerous experiments have confirmed that there are myriads of such crystals in water.
These ice crystals almost do not interact with each other, therefore they do not form more complex stable structures and easily slide their faces relative to each other, creating fluidity. In this sense, water resembles a supercooled solution that cannot crystallize in any way.
