Microscopy takes a quantum leap

Ever since their invention in the 17th century, microscopes have revolutionized our understanding of life. As technology advanced, biologists have been able to discern increasingly fine details of tissue and cells. Peeking ever deeper into the nanorealm, however, requires ever more light: today’s best microscopes employ laser light that’s billions of times brighter than the sun. That gets you great pictures, but it also burns the sample within seconds. So tracking biological processes in time, for example, is impossible.

University of Queensland researchers have found a way to image smaller details without cranking up the brightness. By entangling photons in correlated pairs, they managed a 35 percent signal-to-noise improvement, allowing detection of molecular samples at 14 percent lower concentration.