News in Brief Chemistry

Using laser tweezers, chemists nudged two atoms to bond

It’s the first time chemists have manipulated two atoms to create a compound

illustration of two atoms

GETTING TOGETHER  For the first time, researchers have picked out two specific atoms and smashed them into each other (as suggested in this artist's conception) to form a single molecule.

FlashMovie/Shutterstock

By Maria Temming

This article is only available to Science News subscribers.

Subscribers, enter your e-mail address to access our archives.

Not a subscriber?

Science News is a nonprofit.

Support us by subscribing now.

More Stories from Science News on Chemistry

  1. New Zealand wine grape field
    Agriculture

    How does a crop’s environment shape a food’s smell and taste?

    By Carolyn Beans
  2. robotic beetle on a leaf
    Tech

    Methanol fuel gives this tiny beetle bot the freedom to roam

    By Carmen Drahl
  3. pyrocumulonimbus cloud
    Earth

    Smoke from Australian fires rose higher into the ozone layer than ever before

    By Maria Temming
  4. JKX Comics illustrations
    Science & Society

    Real-life scientists inspire these comic book superheroes

    By Kyle Plantz
  5. a marine parchment tube worm glows blue against a black background
    Chemistry

    Here’s a clue to how this tube worm’s slime can glow blue for days

    By Carolyn Wilke
  6. illustration of astronaut standing outside a lunar base
    Chemistry

    Astronauts may be able to make cement using their own pee

    By Lisa Grossman
  7. The Scream painting
    Chemistry

    Moisture, not light, explains why Munch’s ‘The Scream’ is deteriorating

    By Maria Temming
  8. fruit from the plant Chrozophora tinctoria
    Chemistry

    Ancient recipes led scientists to a long-lost natural blue

    By Carolyn Wilke

From the Nature Index

Paid Content