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World's Smallest Snowman
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The snowman is made of two tiny tin beads – normally used to calibrate electron microscope lenses – which were welded together with platinum. A focused ion beam was used to carve the snowman's eyes and smile, and to deposit a tiny blob of platinum for the nose. It was put together by Dr David Cox, a member of the Quantum Detection group at the laboratory, who also took the picture. (Source)
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World's Smallest Sculpture (crushed while being photographed)
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The sculptures are less than 1mm tall and are produced via a process called nano-painting. They are too small to be seen with the naked eye so they must be viewed and photographed under a microscope. Mr. Hurwitz used a 3D printing technology to produce them.
Having spent months working on the pieces, the 45-year-old from Chichester, West Sussex, took them to a photographer to have them pictured under a microscope. Unfortunately, within minutes, his work had been destroyed by the stroke of the lab technician's finger. (Source)
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The Smallest Bible in the World
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The Nano Bible is written on an ultra thin silicon wafer coated in a layer of gold that is less than 100 atoms thick. To engrave the Hebrew letters, the researchers used a focused ion beam to carve away just the gold layer. The team described the process of engraving the chip (a blend of modern technology and ancient methods) as having “poetic beauty."
The Nano Bible is displayed in the Shrine of the Book at the Israel Museum.
(Source)
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Smallest Race Car
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World's Smallest Thinker
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The replica was scanned and printed into a version 93,000 times smaller than the roughly 6-foot-high original. (Source)
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World's Smallest Postal Service
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The World's Smallest Postal Service was created by San-Francisco-based postmistress Lea Redmond, who decided to put the crazy idea into practice as soon as it popped into her head. She just strapped her small desk to her back, hopped on her bicycle and set-up shop in one of the local cafes. Since then, she's come to realize many people are charmed by her miniature postal service.
At the World's Smallest Postal Service, your letters are written in tiny letters, carefully wrapped, and sealed with a miniature stamp bearing the sender's initial. To make sure the tiny messages don't get lost in the traditional mail, they are packed in transparent envelopes and equipped with a magnifying glass for identifying the mailing address. (Source)
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World's Smallest Movie
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IBM is exploring new possibilities of atomic-scale memory. So hit the play button and meet the boy who befriended an atom.
(Source)
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3D Bull Sculpture
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Measuring only 10 by 7 micrometers (one micrometer is one-thousandth of a millimeter) the bull is the smallest truly three-dimensional sculpture ever created. (Source)
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World's Smallest Working Model Train Set
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Created by New Jersey train enthusiast David Smith, the miniscule model was built using nothing fancier than a crafting knife and a steady hand. Powered by a standard 2 inch long rotating motor head and carved out of moldable plastic, the model train cost David just over £6 to make. (Source)
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Microscopic Origami
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They created flat origami designs by cutting thin plastic sheets, then grew cells that crossed the seams of the tiny plates. The first clips in this video use animal connective tissue cells (which typically help wounds heal) to make the patterns bend when nudged. However, in later examples, the flexible joints fold automatically when rat heart cells are used.
Takeuchi and his colleagues hope the process could eventually help create artificial blood vessels as well as other biological tissue. (Source)