What do molecules look like?

In chemistry class, we have all had to draw  (and have been tested on) the schema of molecules.  Recently scientists at UC Berkeley have been able to image a single molecule and to see it rearrange its atomic bonds.  The resulting AFM images, look a lot like those little stick drawings I referred to.

A ringed, carbon-containing molecule, shown both before and after it has rearranged itself, with the two most common reaction products included. The scale bars measure 3 angstroms, or three ten-billionths of a meter, across. Image and Caption: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and University of California at Berkeley

I think the images are amazing and elegant.  There are more images here at WIRED Magazine.

This breakthrough was described in Science in May 30, 2013.