Nanoscale spherical lenses have been made by South Korean scientists. The researchers fabricated the lenses by slowly evaporating a water-acetone solution of the hydroquinone to form nanotube crystals by self-assembly and when on heating these crystals release calyx hydroquinone molecules that reassemble into nanospheres on the crystal surface. These plano convex lenses have shorter focal lengths and correspondingly higher magnification than expected for conventional geometric optics. The lens size is controlled by adjusting the time and temperature of the self-assembly process. Such lenses could be used in arrays with atomic force microscopes or as auxiliary components to enhance the resolution of scanning probe microscopes.