December 1, 2005
1 min read
Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAmGoing through the Brownian Motions
By Charles Q. Choi
On supporting science journalism
If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.
In addition to relativity, Albert Einstein explained Brownian motion, the dance of minute particles when suspended in fluids, by showing that impacts with surrounding molecules could create this random jittering. Theorists have argued that Brownian motion may not be completely random, as Einstein predicted, and now experimentalists have confirmed it. They tracked micron-size plastic and glass spheres in water with lasers at microsecond intervals and nanometer-length scales. Their results validate a corrected form of the standard theory describing Brownian motion, wherein the inertia of the fluid makes the trajectories of the particles more predictable for much longer than previously expected. The findings, published October 11 online by Physical Review Letters, are fundamental to understanding the dynamics of a living cell and building structures at the nanoscale, says biophysicist Ernst-Ludwig Florin of the University of Texas at Austin.
It’s Time to Stand Up for Science
If you enjoyed this article, I’d like to ask for your support. Scientific American has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.
I’ve been a Scientific American subscriber since I was 12 years old, and it helped shape the way I look at the world. SciAm always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. I hope it does that for you, too.
If you subscribe to Scientific American, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.
In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, can't-miss newsletters, must-watch videos, challenging games, and the science world's best writing and reporting. You can even gift someone a subscription.
There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you’ll support us in that mission.
