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By combining the optical microscope with a transparent microsphere Professor Lin Li and Dr Zengbo Wang have created the most powerful microscope,which they dubbed the 'microsphere nanascope'. The microsphere nanacsope will allow scientist to see objects up to 50 nanametres or 5 X 10-8m under normal light.

Current microschopes like the electron microscope only have the capacity to examine the surface of cells and can not view live viruses visually.

Since this method has no theoretical limit on the sinze of the size of the feture that can be seen scientists believe they can use the microschope to detect far smaller mages.
Professor Li,who initiated and led the research said "This is a world record in terms of how small an optical microscope can go by direct imaging under a light source covering the whole range of optical spectrum.
"Not only have we been able to see items of 50 nanometres, we believe that is just the start and we will be able to see far smaller items.

"Theoretically, there is no limit on how small an object we will be able to see.

"The common way of seeing tiny items presently is with an electron microscope, and even then you cannot see inside a cell -- only the outside. Optical fluoresce microscopes can see inside the cells indirectly by dying them, but these dyes cannot penetrate viruses.

"Seeing inside a cell directly without dying and seeing living viruses directly could revolutionize the way cells are studied and allow us to examine closely viruses and biomedicine for the first time."
Other objects scientists will be able to view using this new microscope are anodized aluminum oxide nano structures, and nano patterns on  Blue-Ray CVC disks whcih where not previously visible with an optical microscope.




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