I’d like you to contemplate this image (courtesy of the BBC).

Do you know what that is? Chemistry graduates might stand a better chance of recognizing it. It is a single molecule of pentacene, made up of five chained carbon rings. That’s 22 individual carbon atoms you are seeing there. The picture was taken using something called an atomic force microscope. I am seriously impressed. Nice work, IBM Research Zurich. See the BBC article for more details.

Update: Gizmodo has a nice post that compares the photo to a “ball-and-stick” model of the molecule. (hat tip Danjite).