The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Cornell University have banded together and formed what they're touting is the first nanoscale fluidic device with with a complex three-dimensional surface. The staircase-shaped prototype is 10nm at its tiniest and 620nm at its tallest -- all smaller than the average bacterium, and a departure from the usual flat, rectangular-shaped fare. According to the press release, it can manipulate nanoparticles by size, similar to how coin sorters separate your pocket change. Potential uses includes helping to measure nanoparticle mixtures for drug delivery or gene therapy, or the isolation / confinement of individual DNA strands. Don your science caps and hit up the read link for the more technical details[
