Laser beams can create beams of protons. High pressure allows water to stay solid at much higher temperatures. Neutrons have been confined in three dimensions, in a magnetic trap, for the first time. Superconducting particles can form themselves into a larger ball under the action of an electric field. An array of micro-droplets evaporate in a coordinated way.
New simulations suggest that very thin gold nanowires are actually zigzag shaped.
The largest molecular structure ever imaged with x-ray crystallography. AFM probes can etch out planar transistors by tapping a layer of electrons buried beneath the surface. A striking stepwise change in friction occurs when an atomic force microscope probe is scraped across a monolayer of strandlike molecules. Highly focused laser light, absorbed two photons at a time, can be used to sculpt microstructures. Chaotic mixing of granular materials at record speeds.