What's The Smallest You Can See?

How small can you see? And how does tech help us see as small as individual atoms?

The smallest YOU can see with your eyes is roughly ten thousand times smaller than a meter. Things much smaller than that don’t reflect enough light for our eyes to register. So, people invented the optical microscope, which let us see things down to ten millionths of a meter by shining light and using lenses magnify the image. But past that, objects get smaller than the wavelength of visible light. So we need something even smaller to take a picture, like firing beams of electrons and measuring how they get reflected or transmitted.

There’s SO MUCH of the world that we can’t see with our eyes but we can see with technology!

If you like optimistic science like this, subscribe for more of our show Huge If True.

#shorts #animation #small #microscope #tech #science

[JordanEngel]

To be clear, those little people are like drawings made with 65 separate molecules each with two atoms.

[StefanSteinerWA]

I knew the guy, Donald Eigle, who first moved individual atoms with a Scanning Tunneling Microscope at the IBM Almaden Research Center in San Jose, CA. He later created the smallest IBM logo in atoms and then connected a “data glove” to the microscope which allowed me and others to move atoms by grabbing them on a large conference screen and moving them. This was done around 1989-1994.

[FoxTheSwift]

She looks like Kiera Knightly and Natalie Portman had a daughter together.

[natsudragoneel]

Why is Natalie Portman teaching me chemistry.

[Blade.]

It's not about the size of the atom, it's how you use it

[chicostacos]

"No one sees the real me."

*pulls out an electron microscope

[mathmusicandlooks]

In the labs I work in, I can definitely say I can still see things down to about 40 microns in length or so.
But what also amazes me is that something as small as 10-20 microns difference in height can still be distinctly felt with your fingertips!

[zavahar]

We got Natalie Portman teaching us science before GTA VI

[gustavo]

"so much we can't see with our eyes but we can see with technology"

I don't think people understand how awesome this is, all the way from microorganisms to nebulas.

[MikuAuahDark]

2 things we can't see with naked eye:
* Things that are very very small (such as atoms)
* Things that are very very far away (such as astronomical objects)

[abangry]

"humans have so much technology!, They can see atoms now!, what are they using it for?"
"Dancing stickman"

[Abel_Sibin]

Me in fourth grade seeing one snow flake with my tiny ahh eyes

[CarpeDiem]

I love your passion, Cleo. Don’t ever lose that!!!

[BSrour-lvco]

As a scientist, I bow to your talent in making science understandable using visuals, simple words and everyday examples. You're amazing. I looked you up and it looks that you've been doing that for a while whereas I discovered few of your shorts only recently. Keep up the good work.

[jesnie]

In my job we harden iron, and I have to make a daily test of the microstructure of the metal. Basically I test how hard it is, and how deep the hardening is. It's pretty amazing to watch the microscopic crystalline structure of the hardened iron, and how the hardened part is so different from the raw iron.
It's not atoms, but I am watching parts that measures 0.5 micrometers. A human blood cell is 5 micrometers wide.
I would really like to share a picture but can't post pictures on YouTube, and it's confidential within my company.

[samerallahham]

I think your enthusiasm about science IS amazing

[abstractcarter]

I love how you can genuinely tell that these topics are just really interesting to her and she’s sharing her interests with the world, not just doing it for views. like she’s actually passionate about what she talks about and it’s hard (for me at least) to explain the difference or how you can tell, so I’ll instead just say how it I interpret it:

“extremely refreshing”

whenever she pops up I’m watching. love it

[eduardocastro]

Babe wake up, new Cleo Abram short just dropped

[universal_truth]

Books, telescopes and microscopes are the most beautiful and great inventions that change humanity forever. Isn't?

[Ennoconda]

I am a simple man. I like this kind of optimistic tech and science stories, so I follow for more.