Electrostatic self-assembly, however, coats every exposed surface of an object, and does it at room temperature.

ECONOMIST: MONITOR

Once the microscope has taken a picture of the exposed surface of the chunk, the slicer peels away a layer 25 billionths of a metre thick, revealing a new surface for the next shot.

ECONOMIST: Connectomics aims to map the atlas of the brain

Absorption is particularly fast in cold water so the Arctic is especially susceptible, and the recent decreases in summer sea ice have exposed more sea surface to atmospheric CO2.

BBC: Arctic Ocean 'acidifying rapidly'

While most brass pens are heavily lacquered to preserve their lustre, the Hatch is finished with just a thin coat intended to wear away quickly, leaving the hygienic surface exposed.

WSJ: To Contagions, This Pen Is Deadlier Than the Sword

Equal in excellence to the 264-seat main theater but presenting a striking design contrast, this secondary screening room has a hot pink entrance and features exposed loudspeakers and a grey, perforated acoustical wall and ceiling surface, making it more of an exposed machine for the moving image.

ENGADGET: Museum of The Moving Image plans multi-million dollar updates with HD, 3D

The land has first been raked by big excavator machines which have exposed the mines on or near the surface - but the next work has to be manual.

BBC: The women clearing Sri Lanka's mines

This involves shining light through a patterned mask and on to the surface of a chip, so as to change the chemical properties of the exposed parts of that chip.

ECONOMIST: Transistors: A tall story | The