In 2005 scientists at Rice University, USA, led by James Tour, revealed a “car” made from a single molecule of mostly carbon atoms that contains a chassis, axles and four wheels made from buckyballs. The entire assemblage measures just 3-4 nanometres across, slightly wider than a strand of DNA.

In March 2009, researchers Hari Manoharan and Christopher Moon, of Stanford University’s Physics Department and Geballe Laboratory for Advanced Materials, were able to write letters so small that they are composed of subatomic pixels no bigger than 0.3 nanometres. The team ‘wrote’ the letters “S” and “U” for Stanford University using a scanning tunnelling microscope to arrange individual carbon monoxide molecules on a copper surface in a complicated two-dimensional pattern. They then used a constant flow of electrons naturally present on the copper surface to Continue reading →

The smallest muscle in the human body is the stapedius, which controls the stapes in the ear. The muscles is less than 0.127 cm (0.05 in) long.

Nippondenso of Kariya, Japan created a motorized model of Toyota’s first passenger car, the 1936 AA sedan, which is 4.785 mm. (0.188 in.) long, 1.730 mm. (0.068 in.) wide and 1.736 mm. (0.068 in.) high.  The bumper is 50 microns thick (a human hair is approx.100 microns in diameter). The motor, the coil of which is 1 mm. (0.039 in.)  in diameter, powers the car to a top speed of 0.018 km./h. (0.011 m.p.h.).

The smallest national note ever issued was the 10-bani note of the Ministry of Finance of Romania in 1917. It measured (printed area) 27.5 x 38 mm (1.08 x 1.49 in). This is roughly one tenth the size of a US$1 banknote. Of German Notgeld, the smallest were the 1/3 pfg notes of Passau (1920-1), measuring 18 x 18.5 mm (0.7 x 0.72 in).

The smallest organism capable of independent reproduction and growth is Mycoplasma genitalium, a parasitic species of ultramicrobacterium that lives in the respiratory and genital tracts of primates. Its size is approximately 200-300 nanometres.

A guitar carved from a block of silicon and based on a Fender Stratocaster, measured ten micrometres long – 1/20 the thickness of human hair. Made in 1997 in just twenty minutes by scientists at the Cornell University, New York, USA, each of its six strings were 0.05 mm 1/100 in thick, equivalent to 100 atoms laid end to end. When plucked, the strings vibrated, but at frequencies 1,000 times higher than the human ear can pick up. Each approximately 50 nanometres wide (around 100 Continue reading →

The smallest spy plane in existence is the palm-sized Black Widow, developed by Aerovironment of Monrovia, California, USA, for possible reconnaissance use by ground combat troops. It has a wingspan of 15.24 cm. (6 in.), weighs just 80 g. (2.8 oz.) and carries a tiny color video camera weighing 2 g. (0.07 oz.). The Black Widow has a speed of 50 km./h. (30 m.p.h.), a maximum range of 2km.  (1.24 miles) and can stay airborne for 30 min. Although it has an autopilot, it will Continue reading →

Due to the difficulties in determining precisely when a small species is sexually mature (i.e. an adult and fully grown), there are two, possibly three, contenders for the smallest spieces of shark. The most likely record holder is the dwarf lantern shark (Etmopterus perryi), males of which measure a total length of 16-17.5 cm (6.3-6.8 in) (with one confirmed male adult specimen collected measuring 19 cm or 7.4 in long), and mature females of which are typcially 19-20 cm (7.4-7.8 in). Prior to the discovery Continue reading →