Gerd Binnig’s and Heinrich Rohrer’s scanning tunneling
microscope (STM) has fueled much of the nanotechnology research
effort around the world. Developed in an IBM laboratory about 35
years ago (ETA May 2, 2013: the year was 1981), it was the first
microscope that allowed researchers to access material at the
nanoscale (there’s more about these researchers and their
accomplishment in my May 26, 2011 posting). Don Eigler, also
working for IBM, was the first to use an STM to manipulate the
placement of atoms on a surface. In 1989, he ‘nudged’ xenon
atoms into the shape of three letters, IBM (there’s more about
Eigler in this Wikipedia essay). Today, May 1, 2013, IBM has
released an atomic movie, A Boy and His Atom, which was made
with their seminal scanning tunneling microscope, If the story
is not apparent to you, here’s how the IBM May 1, 2013 news
release describes the movie, The movie’s plot line depicts a
character called Atom who befriends a single atom and goes on a
“playful journey.” This journey involv