The advent of the electron microscope has helped prove beyond a doubt the existence of electrons, protons and neutrons.  What about subatomic particles though?  They are even smaller and require further advancements in technology to be able to detect them.  The team at MIT does it again and here is an excerpt from their discovery:

MIT physicists have developed a new tabletop particle detector that is able to identify single electrons in a radioactive gas.

As the gas decays and gives off electrons, the detector uses a magnet to trap them in a magnetic bottle. A radio antenna then picks up very weak signals emitted by the electrons, which can be used to map the electrons’ precise activity over several milliseconds.

Let’s learn more about how this awesome detector works on page 2

Next Page »