Nano Fiber Feels Forces, Hears Sounds Made By Cells, University of San Diego Study Reveals

Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a miniature device that's sensitive enough to feel the forces generated by swimming bacteria and hear the beating of heart muscle cells.

The device is a nano-sized optical fiber that's about 100 times thinner than a human hair. It can detect forces down to 160 femtonewtons -- about ten trillion times smaller than a newton -- when placed in a solution containing live Helicobacter pylori bacteria, which are swimming bacteria found in the gut.

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