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 Researchers
have created what could be the world's smallest
bearings and mechanical switches. Working at the National Center for
Electron Microscopy, scientists crafted seemingly frictionless telescoped
carbon nanotubes about 10,000 times smaller than the diameter of a human
hair. These nanotubes could prove immensely valuable to the microscopic
machines of today and to the even smaller machines now in the works.
 Understanding
the molecular dynamics behind the absorption of sunlight could help
enhance the efficiencies of solar cells. Examining interactions that
take place in less than one trillionth of a second, researchers have
discovered new details about how solar energy is
converted to chemical energy at the molecular level.
 Neutron-scattering
research has impacted all our lives. Jets, plastics, compact discs, auto
windshields, and even satellite weather forecasts have been improved by
the use of this analytical technique. The U.S. Department of Energy Office
of Science has funded the construction of a new facility that will provide
the most intense pulsed neutron beams in the world for scientific research
and industrial development. Development on the
Spallation Neutron Source is quickly proceeding.
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