In their latest findings, IBM scientists were able to measure the force needed to make an atom move. They were able to find out that it takes one 130-millionth of an ounce of force to push a cobalt atom across a piece of platinum.

Andreas J. Heinrich, a physicist at the Almaden Research Center aka IBM, and his colleagues in Almaden and Germany">University of Regensburg in Germany used a tip of an atomic force microscope to push a single atom.

For them to measure the force, the tip was attached to a small tuning fork, the kind that's found in ordinary quartz wristwatches. this tip vibrates 20,000 times per second until it comes into contact with an atom. As it pushes, the fork bends and the vibrations frequency lessens.

The scientists were able to calculate the force that the tip of the tuning fork applied to the cobalt atom through the changes in the frequency.  With this new finding, Heinrich said that it "helps us to understand what is possible and what is not possible." He added that "It’s a stepping stone for us, but it’s by no means the end goal."