Queen Mary, University of London: Small matters get a closer look

A new multimillion-pound microscope unit was launched this week by Queen Mary, University of London. The university said that the NanoVision Centre "brings together the latest imaging technologies to open up new avenues for research". Andy Bushby, who leads the centre, said: "Our scientists will use scanning electron microscopes that use a high-energy beam of electrons to investigate the structure of materials at a very small scale; and scanning probe microscopes that use a tiny physical probe ... to 'feel' the surface. This will give the team an unprecedented opportunity to examine how complex systems such as biological tissues behave."