The award for best nano-cinematography goes to. . .

Using rapidly pulsating lasers, scientists at Imperial College in London have observed the dance of molecules with better accuracy than ever before. Their set-up can make an observation, or shoot a “frame” if you will, every 100 atto-seconds (an atto-second is a billionth of a billionth of a second). At this dizzying rate, even particles travelling at the speed of light, or roughly 300,000 kilometres per second, would cover only about 30 nanometres between “frames” (a nanometre being a mere billionth of a metre). Using such “molecular movies,” chemists plan to follow the movement of particles such as protons, which travel very quickly during chemical reactions.

-Mike Ghenu

Source: Science

If Eeyore ate Uni. . .

It looks like omega-3 fatty acids could give Prozac a run for its money when it comes to being the anti-depressant of choice. A study out of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine has shown that in healthy people, low levels of omega-3 in the blood is linked to depression, bad moods and impulsive behaviour, while higher levels are associated with an all round more positive outlook toward life. Omega-3 fatty acids have already been shown to improve our physical health, but their impact on our emotional well-being is a new discovery. The amount of omega-3 in our blood is related to how much we consume but the question that begs further study is whether increasing our consumption of foods with omega-3, like fish, can improve a person’s temperament. Now if only Pooh-bear’s favourite down-in-the-dumps donkey friend had indulged in a little sushi, he’d be a bit sprightlier. But then there would be no story.

-Jennifer Bates

Source: University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

Eagle eye El-Baz

Whilst studying satellite maps of Egypt’s Western Desert with colleagues, Dr. Farouk El-Baz, of Boston University, discovered the remnants of an ancient crater, 31 kilometres in diameter, larger than any previously known in the Sahara Desert. They reckon the meteorite impact could have created the fields of “desert glass,” glassy green-yellow fragments of silica, which litter the giant dunes of southwestern Egypt’s Great Sand Sea.

-M. G.

Source: Boston University news service