Hydrogen bonds are at the very core of life as we know it, and now for the first time ever scientists have managed to visualize these transient molecular associations. A team of researchers from China’s National Center for Nanoscience & Technology and Renmin University have utilized atomic force microscopy (AFM) to produce a high-resolution image of atoms reaching out to make a link with each other. Chemists have theorized about the location and appearance of hydrogen bonds for many years, but now those theories can be put to the test.