The World’s First MRI of a SINGLE Atom Is Here, and It Could Revolutionize Imaging

Magnetic resonance imaging is nothing new, but scientists were able to perform an MRI on a single atom. But how? » Subscribe to Seeker! » Watch more Elements! Scientists recently captured the smallest MRI ever while scanning an individual atom. The technique successfully reached a breakthrough level of resolution in the world of microscopy, the detailed MRI can reveal single atoms as well as different types of atoms based on their magnetic interactions. This breakthrough has potential applications in all kinds of fields, like quantum computing where it could be used to design atomic-scale methods of storing info or when it comes to drug development, the ability to control individual atoms could potentially be used to study how proteins fold and then lead to the development of drugs for diseases like Alzheimers. In a sense, the researchers combined a version of an MRI machine with a special instrument called a scanning tunneling microscope, wh