As a birthday gift to Professor Martyn Poliakoff in December 2010, scientists at the University of Nottingham, UK, used an ion beam writer and electron microscope to carve the periodic table of elements on to a single hair from his head. The table measures just 89.67 x 46.39 microns and approximately one million would fit on a post-it note.
The smallest radio controlled model aircraft had a wingspan of 69 mm (2.72 in) and was created by John Wakefield (UK) in Lancaster, UK, on 27 October 2010. The aircraft, model BF5, flew for 6 min 56 sec and weighed just 1.98 g (0.07 oz).
The smallest scale three dimensional map is a representation of the 2df survey of galaxies in a glass cube. It has a scale of 1cm=1 billion light years (around one to one billion billion billion) and is produced by Crystal Nebulae (UK). All of the approximately 200,000 galaxies mapped in the 2df survey arel represented within the cube. The galaxies are etched inside the cube by a laser, with a positional accuracy of 40 microns. This corresponds to a spatial uncertainty less than the results
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The Sheffield Wool Shear Workers Union currently has 9 members. The union was originally called the Sheffield Shear Makers, Grinders, Finishers and Benders Union, but has presumably lost its grinders, finishers and benders.
The record for smoking a pipe for the longest time without relighting belongs to Dr Lubomir Cinka (Czech Republic) who smoked his pipe continuously for 3 hr 4 min 35 sec at the 2001 World Cup in Pipesmoking Championship which was held at Ascot racecourse, Berkshire, UK, on 14 October 2001. Each contestant started with a championship briar pipe handed out by the organisers, two matches, 3g tobacco and a wooden tamper. They were sat at tables of ten with a steward at each table.
In 2008, a team led by Alan Windle at the University of Cambridge (UK) announced they had developed a method of making carbon nanotubes with a tensile strength of 9 gigapascals, corresponding to around three times stronger than Kevlar. Further refinements of this material could theoretically make it the best candidate for the construction of a space elevator for reaching space without the use of rockets.
The strongest beer ever sold is “The End of History”, which was brewed by BrewDog in Fraserburgh, Scotland and has an alcohol volume of 55%. Bottles were sold for £500 (US $806) each or £700 ($1,129) when packaged in a taxidermied squirrel. The last bottles were sold in July 2010.
William Blair (UK) has created and successfully ridden a 3.28 m (10 ft 9.1 in) tall hydrofoil chair behind a motorboat.
The tallest structure built with interlocking plastic bricks in one minute, using one hand, is 48 bricks tall and was built by Chris Challis (UK) at Butlins, Skegness, UK, on 26th December 2011. GWR Live! at Butlins.
The tallest stack of tortillas was 58 cm (1 ft 10 in) and was created by Richard Godfrey, Marcin Bueski, Mark Monument, and Jason Wilkinson (all UK) at Jubilee Square in Brighton, England, UK on 11 September 2010.