Japanese scientists photograph hydrogen atom for first time | Hacker News Reader

Japanese scientists photograph hydrogen atom for first time

search.japantimes.co.jp

51 pointsgeoka916 comments

It may seem pedantic, but it's not actually a "photograph" since it was taken using an electron beam - from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photograph):

A photograph (often shortened to photo) is an image created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface

The clue is in the name - photo-graph, as in 'photon'. It's an important distinction, as electron microscopy offers much greater resolution than optical microscopy, due to the difference in wavelength between an electron and a photon of the same energy (http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/quantum/debrog2.h...).

It's generally better to stick with the headline when posting news articles ("Research team takes image of hydrogen atom" in this case).

Very interesting article though!

I've just noticed that the Telegraph article linked elsewhere in this post has that exact headline, so I guess it's the staff at the Telegraph who need a physics lesson! Presumably the OP updated the link after the initial post.

Also while I'm sure it's the first something it's certainly not the first imaging of an individual hydrogen atom; we were "imaging" single hydrogen atoms on various surfaces with scanning tunneling microscopy at least a decade ago. Possibly this is the first time it's been done with SEM though.

I'm fascinated by how precisely arranged the atoms are. Not surprised per se, I just think it is so neat to see the precise structure of something at such a minute level of detail. Now I want to see what it looks like even lower down the scale!

Was anyone else expecting to see the photo on that page?

Here it is... http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20101105a1.html

where? that thumbnail?

What photo? The one I see looks right to me.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/images/photos2010/nn20101105a1a....

They know the structure of vanadium hydride, and have identified those mid-grays to be hydrogen

Yeah, I was confused because _grrr's post made it sound like that photo was unexpected.

My bad, sorry.

OK, that's weird, when I first visited the OPs link I could swear it was to a page on the Telegraph newspapers website that had no image (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/8109291...) clearly now though it's not. Maybe I got my browser tabs confused.... apologies for starting this pointless thread!

Spooky. My original post did link to the Telegraph website (which had no image). I have no idea why and how it got updated to link to japanesetimes.co.jp, which has that picture. Maybe some HN AI magic? :)

Aha - I am still sane after all. Yes, I'd like to know how it got updated too, is Arc that smart?!

I think a mod did it.

I did expect to see something, but honestly it could have been a smudge n the "lens" and I wouldn't have known any better

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