One string to rule them all
(PHYSorg.com Physics)

Strain can be used to engineer unusual properties at the nanoscale. Researchers in Tobias Kippenberg`s lab at EPFL have harnessed this effect to engineer an extremely low-loss nanostring. When plucked, the string vibrates for minutes with a period of a microsecond (equivalent to a standard guitar note playing for a month). Using it as an ultrasensitive microphone, the researchers hope to be able to detect the sound of photons in a laser beam. The work is published in Science.