![\"e-coli-bacteria\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.discovermagazine.com\/80beats\/files\/2010\/03\/e-coli-bacteria.jpg\" "\\"e-coli-bacteria\\"")
The invention of the microscope allowed scientists to peer into the tiniest of cells. Now, imagine a device that can not just look into minute cells, but can also listen in on their activities.<\/p>\nThe invention of the microscope allowed scientists to peer into the tiniest of cells. Now, imagine a device that can not just look into minute cells, but can also listen in on their activities.<\/p>\n
A team of scientists is building a “micro-ear” that uses tiny beads and lasers to amplify and measure vibrations on a molecular scale. The team hopes the new device will become standard lab equipment soon, allowing scientists to listen to the movement of bacteria such as E. coli<\/em> as well as microorganisms that cause diseases like sleeping sickness [The Daily Beast<\/a>].<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span>The micro-ear is based on an established technology that uses laser light to measure tiny forces. The \u201coptical tweezers\u201d work by suspending very small glass or plastic beads in a beam of laser light. Measuring the movement of these beads as they are jostled by tiny objects allows measurements of tiny forces that operate at molecular scales [BBC<\/a>].<\/span> The optical tweezer is so sensitive, it can measure a piconewton force, which is a millionth of the force that a grain of salt exerts when resting on a tabletop [BBC<\/a>].<\/span> But unlike the optical tweezer, where one single laser beam measures the forces exerted by tiny objects, the micro-ear would use a circle of bead-bearing laser beams to listen to the object in question.<\/p>\n Scientists say this circle of laser beams can pick up the motion caused by bacteria as they use their flagella to motor forward. That motion causes the ring of electrically-charged beads to wobble by different amounts, and all those wobbles are measured using a high speed camera. That output is then connected to a speaker, so that researchers can hear the bacteria’s vibrations. The device has already picked up Brownian motion<\/a>, letting researchers listen to atoms and molecules sloshing about in a fluid. The new micro-ear could also help scientists understand how harmful bacteria move, and how drugs can be used to stop them in their tracks.<\/p>\n Join Discover Magazine on Facebook<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n Related Content: Image: iStockphoto<\/em><\/p>\n The invention of the microscope allowed scientists to peer into the tiniest of cells. Now, imagine a device that can not just look into minute cells, but can also listen in on their activities. A team of scientists is building a “micro-ear” that uses tiny beads and lasers to amplify and measure vibrations on a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":641,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-376203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/641"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=376203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376203\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n80beats: Dime-Sized Microscope Could Be a Boon for Developing World Health<\/a>
\n80beats:Microscope-Cell Phone Combo Could Spot Disease in Developing World<\/a>
\n80beats: New Nano-Scale Imaging Technique Takes Pictures of Viruses in 3-D<\/a>
\nDISCOVER: World’s Tiniest Scale Can Weigh Individual Molecules<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>
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