Olympicene, five rings 100,000 times thinner than a human hair

Scientists have created and imaged the smallest possible five-ringed structure – about 100,000 times thinner than a human hair – and you’ll probably recognise its shape.

Olympicene radical processed AFM image. Credit: IBM Research - Zurich, University of Warwick, Royal Society of Chemistry

Images at the atomic level of platinum nanocrystals

The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) announced that a research team from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering has developed a technology that enables scientists and engineers to observe processes occurring in liquid media on the smallest possible scale which is less than a nanometer.

Schematic illustration of graphene liquid cells. Sandwiched two sheets of graphene encapsulate a platinum growth solution. Credit: KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology)