Curiosity Weekly Tractor Beam, Crystal Palace, Botany Dark Spots
Nov 27, 2024
Discover an innovative tractor beam from MIT poised to revolutionize disease diagnosis by capturing biological particles with light. Dive into the fascinating history of London's Crystal Palace, which was built in record time thanks to standardized screws. Finally, scientists raise alarms over 33 ‘dark spots’ around the globe, home to countless unknown plant species, highlighting the critical need for exploration and conservation in biodiversity-rich areas.
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Tiny Tractor Beam
- MIT engineers created a chip-based tractor beam for manipulating biological particles like cells.
- This miniature device uses silicon photonics and light to trap particles, offering a smaller and potentially cheaper alternative to traditional optical tweezers.
Crystal Palace Construction
- The Crystal Palace, built in 1851, was constructed remarkably quickly.
- Standardized screw threads, a relatively new innovation at the time, played a key role in its rapid assembly.
Botany's Dark Spots
- Botanists identified 33 "dark spots" globally with potentially thousands of unknown plant species.
- Many of these undiscovered species are at risk of extinction due to habitat loss and inefficient documentation.