How do you see something that is in constant flux? Stop it. What if the thing in constant flux is a molecule? No problem, cover it. At Caltech researchers have stumbled upon a way to see the atomic structure of a water molecule. They used a sheet of carbon, only one atom thick, and layed it on mica. Coincidentally they found that it was not flat and that the bumps were from ice. Because of humidity water coats every surface with a very thin layer, it is so thin that the molecules actually line up in a structure similar to ice. There's ice on everything :O even at room temperature! After some experiments with two molecule thick water and graphene (carbon), the researchers believe it should be possible to see, in 3-D, the structures of biological molecules. Structures such as protein complexes.
http://www.futurity.org/science-technology/dead-simple-way-to-see-atomic-structure/
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