Biological atomic force microscopy works surprisingly well:
The 150 µm-stage is a Petri dish holder with integrated long-range piezo actuators, enabling the precise positioning of the dish surface in height (z-axis), increasing the z-range of the AFM. This is particularly interesting in the single cell force spectroscopy (SCFS) field but may also be utilized in other applications such as 3D printing.
In SCFS, cell adhesion may be differentiated down to the molecular level. For these experiments, cells may be attached to the cantilever using an adhesive protein and subsequently brought into contact with the dish. After an optional waiting time, they are retracted.
Even after the cell’s body is no longer in contact with the surface, adhesion events caused by tethers are recorded.7 A microscope objective positioner is also available.
I can't help but compare this astonishing technique, which was only invented in 1985 by IBM scientists in Zurich (winning Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer the 1986 Nobel Prize for Physics), to a clever idea from The Houses of Ism, a novel written by Jack Vance in 1954:
"On the gray disk, Farr Sainh - palms forward, eyes wide."
He stood rigid as feeler-planes brushed down his body. In a glass dome a three-dimensional simulacrum of himself six inches high took form. Farr inspected it sourly...
On the counter-top appeared a three-dimensional replica of Farr. It could be expanded a hundred times, revealing finger-prints, cheek-pores, ear and retinal configuration.
AI Enhances Images Your Brain Sees
'I could have sworn the psychomat showed pictures almost as sharp and detailed as reality itself' - Stanley Weinbaum, 1935.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!)
is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for
the Invention Category that interests
you, the Glossary, the Invention
Timeline, or see what's New.
Illustrating Classic Heinlein With AI
'Stasis, cold sleep, hibernation, hypothermia, reduced metabolism, call it what you will - the logistics-medicine research teams had found a way to stack people like cordwood and use them when needed.'
Deflector Plasma Screen For Drones ala Star Wars
'If the enemy persists in attacking or even intensifies their power, the density of the plasma in space will suddenly increase, causing it to reflect most of the incoming energy like a mirror.'