We've already talked about how superparamagnetic nanoparticles are being used to fight cancer, but Japanese artists Sachiko Kodama and Yasushi Miyajima used them to create this beautiful, alien sculpture piece called "Morpho Towers." The artwork, which uses ferrofluids controlled by magnetic fields, looks so sweet I don't know whether to be excited or frightened:
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MIT researcher Sangeeta N. Bhatia has enlisted a powerful new ally in the fight against cancer: superparamagnetic nanoparticles! They’re tiny, they’re tough, and they target tumors.
“Superparamagnetic” particles release heat in the presence of a magnetic field, and in the Nov. 15 issue of Advanced Materials, Bhatia and her colleagues report success in using the tiny particles to deliver cancer-fighting drugs.
Here’s how they work. The nanoparticles, injected into the bloodstream of the patient, zero in on tumors and clump together. (This innovative and still-experimental searching mechanism was also devised by Bhatia’s team.) Doctors can find the particles—and the tumors—with an MRI.
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