Quantum Rattles

When stuff gets really small, weird things happen. At less than two billionths of a metre across – ten thousand times smaller than the width of a human hair – tiny particles of gold have some very strange properties. Known as quantum dots, they absorb certain types of light and convert it into heat. Researchers are harnessing these distinctive characteristics by embedding gold quantum dots inside a solid shell, trapping larger gold particles inside like a child's rattle. Tests in mice suggest that these 'quantum rattles' could help doctors see cancers within the body, or even shrink tumours. On the right is an image of a single rattle taken using a high-powered electron microscope, with the gold specks showing up as white blobs. Taking this as his inspiration, artist Jaap Scheeren created a giant rattle (left), with the help of some gold balloons, making the quantum world visible to our eyes

Written by Kat Arney

Kat Arney

Writer

Dr Kat Arney is an award-winning science writer, broadcaster and public speaker, and is the founder and Creative Director of First Create The Media.

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• Images by Mathew Hembury and colleagues, and Jaap Scheeren
• Imperial College London
• Originally published under a Creative Commons Licence (BY 4.0)
• Research published in PNAS, February 2015