(Phys.org)—A team of researchers at the California Institute of Technology has combined a pulsed laser with an electron gun to capture imagery of suspended nanoparticles moving at nanosecond speeds. In their paper published in the journal Science, the group describes their approach and how they used their apparatus to follow the motion of laser-excited nanoparticles. Peter Baum with Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität offers a Perspective piece on the work in the same journal issue, outlining what they have achieved and describing possible applications for their technique—he also offers some ideas on how it might be improved.