"World's smallest wrench" is able to rotate individual cells
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A smooth muscle cell, trapped between the fiber-optic spanner's two offset optical fibers (Image: Optics Letters)
A diagram illustrating how the fiber-optic spanner is able to rotate microscopic objects (Image: Optics Letters)
Article Summary
If you were a scientist looking at a cell with a microscope, what would you do if you wanted get a look at the far side of that cell? You could try reaching in with a very fine-tipped pair of tweezers, but ... you’d probably be better off using something known as a fiber-optic spanner.
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