Mind Blown

Art is easy to spot in science – nature’s patterns are everywhere, but every so often a meeting of open minds champions the science in art. In this sculpture, Australian artist and glassblower Karen Cunningham traps coloured particles inside molten glass, shaping patterns in light. Her ideas also captured the imagination of local scientists, leading to an exciting collaboration. Tiny defects in diamond nanoparticles make them good at sensing changes in natural magnetic fields, but they’re also fragile and a little awkward to use – usually they need pinpointing under a microscope with laser light. Yet Cunningham’s techniques are able to encapsulate and protect the diamond dust inside a glass fibre – her sculpture is effectively a prototype for a giant sensing probe. Light transmitted through similar (but much smaller) glass fibres might one day carry information about fluctuating magnetic fields during brain scans and other biomedical imaging.

Written by John Ankers

John Ankers

Writer

A former researcher in systems biology, John is now an online biology tutor and professional coach supporting the wellbeing of scientists and NHS professionals. He's writing, too, of course.

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• Image by Karen Cunningham, Michael Haines Photography
• Research by D. Bai and colleagues, School of Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, AU
• Image copyright held by the photographer
• Research published in APL Materials, August 2020