Some science for Saturday morning

[Figarosmom]

Last edited Sat Feb 7, 2026, 01:28 PM - Edit history (3)

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In reality, a more accurate description would be: This is what a kinesin protein might look like — if it were especially colorful.

While scientists have not produced actual images or videos of such molecules with the clarity of this visualization, increasingly precise microscopic techniques and tools have allowed a detailed characterizations and direct observations of their movement. A groundbreaking paper published by Nature in 1993 detailed for the first time the nature of a kinesin movement — if you're wondering, each step is just about eight nanometers long.

Because this picture shows an artist's visualization of a kinesin protein in a white blood cell and not a myosin protein in a neuron, and it is not an actual video but a representation, we rate the claim that this picture is a visual representation of "happiness" as false.