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"The idea of a link between lateralization strength and cognitive abilities has been around ... for many years, but little comparative and experimental work has been done with animals." This study, he says, provides "fascinating confirmation of the link between higher cognition and brain asymmetry."

The nanometer-sized gizmo could provide a key tool for researchers trying to develop a new type of microchip technology called "plasmonics" that mixes electronics and optics.

The channel in Zhang's device measures as little as 40 nanometers wide by 5 nanometers high, far smaller than the roughly 250-nanometer diameter of a conventional laser of a similar wavelength.

Some physicists and engineers are hoping to build nanocircuits that manipulate plasmonics to marry high-speed electronics and high-speed optics.

Even stranger is the recently reported case of an epileptic woman who feels that she has become a man during some seizures.

Setting up patterns by removing atoms from specific sites allows the team to watch in situ tunneling processes and microengineer novel atomic interactions.

According to Facer, it was the crash of 1929 that led to the five-day week. "Before that it was common to work six-day weeks with 12 to 14-hour days. When the Great Depression hit, the idea was to share work around to get more people into employment." During the next big financial crisis in the 1970s, there was much talk of moving to a four-day week, but for a variety of reasons that didn't pan out. "Things are different now," says Facer. "I wouldn't be surprised if we could get 50 per cent or more of the workforce working four-day weeks in the next few years." Next up: the three-day week.