Helium droplets offer new precision to single-molecule laser measurement
(PHYSorg.com Physics)

Chemical reactions necessarily involve molecules coming together, and the way they interact can depend on how they are aligned relative to each other. By knowing and controlling the alignment of molecules, a great deal can be learned about how chemical reactions occur. This week in The Journal of Chemical Physics, scientists from Aarhus University in Denmark and the Institute of Science and Technology in Austria report a new technique for aligning molecules using lasers and very cold droplets of helium.