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Nano Scale Artworks

Matthew Sparkes writes "This article is a list of the best nano-scale artworks. It includes a 15 micron wide badger, a ten micron long guitar (which was actually played) and a 120 micron long New Scientist logo. Of course these are the images that got released to the press. In labs around the world people must have used their bleeding-edge technologies to make structures just to impress their friends. I wonder how many scientists' significant others have received nano-Valentines on Feb 14th?"

72 comments

  1. Badgers? by smitty97 · · Score: 3, Funny

    It includes a 15 micron wide badger
    Badgers? Badgers?! We dont need no stinking badgers!
    --
    mod me funny
    1. Re:Badgers? by vivaoporto · · Score: 1, Funny

      Coming next: mushrooms and ... aw .... it's a snake, it's a snaaaaaake

    2. Re:Badgers? by Raistlin77 · · Score: 1

      Heh, never thought I'd see reference to that again...

    3. Re:Badgers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      >>Badgers? Badgers?! We dont need no stinking badgers!

      Perhaps if you built a giant wooden badger...

    4. Re:Badgers? by Anne_Nonymous · · Score: 1

      Sure we do. How are we going to settle the medieval debate over how many badgers can dance on the head of a pin?

    5. Re:Badgers? by Bloke+down+the+pub · · Score: 1

      Well yes, they do tend to whiff a bit when they're dead

      --
      It's true I tell you, feller at work's next door neighbour read it in the paper.
    6. Re:Badgers? by rupert0 · · Score: 1

      where are the mushrooms??

      --
      RUPERT! I TOLD YOU TO WATCH THE BAGS! You were looking at the boys again, WEREN'T YOU.
    7. Re:Badgers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      next, let's teach some poodles to fly!

    8. Re:Badgers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We could make nano snakes and put them on a nano plane.

  2. I love you this much by QMO · · Score: 5, Funny

    Nano valentines: For when you only love a very tiny amount.

    --
    Exam 4/C again. Maybe I'll do better this time.
    1. Re:I love you this much by Billosaur · · Score: 1

      What do you mean I didn't get you anything for Valentine's Day!?! It's right here on this microscope slide...

      --
      GetOuttaMySpace - The Anti-Social Network
    2. Re:I love you this much by Scutter · · Score: 1

      What do you mean I didn't get you anything for Valentine's Day!?! It's right here on this microscope slide...

      They say it's the thought that counts, but we all know that's not true.

      --

      "Tell me doctor, with all of your defenses, are there any provisions for an attack by killer bees?"
    3. Re:I love you this much by Stanistani · · Score: 1

      Re:I love you this much by Stanistani (Score:-1)
      Starting Score: 1 point
      Moderation -2
          50% Offtopic
          50% Overrated Definitely a sad realization.
  3. My guess is that.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    scientists' significant others already have nano-expectations.

  4. Well I for one... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    openly accept my new microscopic God.

    1. Re:Well I for one... by Goodgerster · · Score: 1

      Hardly microscopic. About 5cm...

    2. Re:Well I for one... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ok... but imagine a Beowulf cluster of these!

  5. Back in 1985, I signed my chip by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Back in my VLSI class at the Univ. of Saskatchewan in 1985, our chip design team put each of our initials into the chip (I think it was a simple 10-bit adder) and although it may have seemed easy, we had to add them in such a way as to pass the various layout tests that the fab plant forced on the file. So we couldn't just add a Metal layer with "TDz" on it, it had to be drawn in such a way that all the various layout rules such as minimum distance and certain layers not crossing in certain ways had to be followed.

    TDz.

  6. One of my favorite... by AKAImBatman · · Score: 4, Informative

    ...forms of nanoscale artwork is the art etched into microchips. It's more fun than most nanoscale art, because if you start pulling apart ICs and putting them under a powerful enough microscope, you can spot all kinds of artwork.

    For those who are unfamiliar with it, I highly recommend the Molecular Expressions Silicon Zoo gallery of chip art:

    http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/creatures/

    1. Re:One of my favorite... by smellsofbikes · · Score: 1

      We do little skiers on the chips we crank out. Sometimes, we even work in recognizeable (from the right vantage point) mountain silhouettes. Whee!

      --
      Nostalgia's not what it used to be.
  7. Significant others by UbuntuDupe · · Score: 4, Funny

    I wonder how many scientists' significant others have received nano-Valentines on Feb 14th?"

    Many -- it's an old trick.

    "Honey, for Valentine's, I made you a really beautiful, tiny guitar. The frame is from one piece! Here, take a look. Oh, wait, we need your laboratory-grade nano-scale microscope for this. You don't have one? Ah, crap, then we can't see it! Oh well, tough break, maybe we'll get a chance some other time."

    1. Re:Significant others by MancunianMaskMan · · Score: 2, Funny

      I made a mothers-day card back in 1995, a heart-shape and the word "MAMA" focused-ion-beam implanted into some GaAs (for want of a SO at the time). It was about 30um across, but I have long lost the picture. Do I get a prize?

  8. om the i-thought-art-professors-graded-on-size dep by jimstapleton · · Score: 2, Funny

    No, Taco, that's women and english professors...

    Well art professors /do/ grade on size, but typically it's in the opposite direction, the smaller the detail, the better.

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  9. better slogan by eclectro · · Score: 2, Funny

    Nano valentines: For when you care enough to send the very least.

    --
    Take the cheese to sickbay, the doctor should see it as soon as possible - B'Elanna Torres, "Learning Curve"
  10. sure they have tiny badgers... by physicsboy500 · · Score: 0, Insightful

    but where's the mushroom mushroom?!

    --
    The original generic sig.
    1. Re:sure they have tiny badgers... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      haha...

      Snake, a Snake... oh, it's a Snake!!

  11. ValentineVirus by IndustrialComplex · · Score: 1

    I made a genetically modified virus for Valentines day. Unfortunately, none of my Valentines seem to enjoy it when I sneeze on them. I'm just spreading the love :(

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  12. nanosex by sairax · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    What about nano-dildos for nano-pussies ?

  13. The real news by travdaddy · · Score: 1

    Wait, wait, you're saying that scientists have significant others??

    --
    Adidas To Bring Back Sneakernet
  14. Micron? by Bromskloss · · Score: 1

    Wikipedia says: Micrometre, one millionth of a metre. The term micron was officially sanctioned as part of the metric system from 1879 to 1967

    Get over it already!

    --
    Swedish plasma phys. PhD student; MSc EE; knows maths, programming, electronics; finance interest; seeks opportunities
    1. Re:Micron? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Get over what? 1967 came and went decades ago and micron has been used since then. In other words, who fucking cares?

  15. Honey we shrunk... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yngwie Malmsteen!

  16. Microns are not nanoscale by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    Thousands of nanometers is not nanoscale. I work with researchers who like to report measurements in thousands of nanometers instead of microns. It's stupid. Don't do it.

    1. Re:Microns are not nanoscale by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The largest dimensions of these objects are measured in microns but many of them are made with nano-scale resolution. Analogously, your large computer monitor may be quite beautiful but it is the pixels which measure in microns that makes it so. So give the "nano"-artists a break.

      BTW... I got my wife to marry me via a two-photon encoded sculpture which I made in the lab that measured 10 microns in length made of 100nm voxels. (That's volume element pixels for you new to this game!)

  17. A Guitar? by CrazyJim1 · · Score: 3, Funny

    So when is someone going to make the world's tiniest violin?

    1. Re:A Guitar? by GodfatherofSoul · · Score: 1

      My friends do every time I tell them how long it's been since I've been on a date.

      --
      I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
  18. Small Instruments? by LordPhantom · · Score: 2, Funny

    a ten micron long guitar (which was actually played)

    I was horribly disappointed that they didn't make the "world's smallest violin".

  19. Oh no!! by p3d0 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    We're using an unofficial but universally understood unit of measure!!!!

    --
    Patrick Doyle
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    1. Re:Oh no!! by Bromskloss · · Score: 1

      We're using an unofficial but universally understood unit of measure!!!!

      Yes. Yuck!

      --
      Swedish plasma phys. PhD student; MSc EE; knows maths, programming, electronics; finance interest; seeks opportunities
  20. physics isnt sexy by Coraon · · Score: 1

    Take it from me, women dont like scientific geek gifts: When I was in university I had access to the high pressure systems in the physics and chem labs, so I made her a dimond out of some carbon I...ummm...had lying around...yeah...anyway. She was definaly not impressed. I then, with a different girl used the same labs to make a string of jewels of various styles and make a necklace. Also not impressed. the moral of the story, physics geeks dont get the girl...those with IT skills however...lets just say I've gotten the girl because I could fix her laptop.

    --
    -Ours is the wisdom of Solomon, the magic of Merlyn, the fall of Icaris.
    1. Re:physics isnt sexy by Bugs42 · · Score: 1

      lets just say I've gotten the girl because I could fix her laptop. You "fixed" her "laptop"? What fresh hell is this, a new low for geeky euphemisms?
      --
      Programmer: an ingenious device that converts caffeine into code.
    2. Re:physics isnt sexy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you serious? You made her a frigg'n diamond and she wasn't happy?! Who were you dating, Paris Hilton?

    3. Re:physics isnt sexy by castiron5615 · · Score: 1

      You must not be meeting the right girls. I happen to be one myself, and since I'm generally socially conscious, I would much prefer a lab-made diamond than one ill-gotten in Africa.

  21. Summary is misleading... by Etherwalk · · Score: 2, Informative

    The guitar shown in the link is a 10 micron Fender guitar; the playable guitar referenced by the article is 50 micron Gibson Flying V.

    Now all we need is a 90 micron guitarist. Quick, where do we find a Lillipution orchestra?

    1. Re:Summary is misleading... by Doctor+Memory · · Score: 1

      A Fender? Not likely, it looks more like a B.C. Rich, if anything. Didn't check out the Flying V.

      I was disappointed the article didn't mention this IBM effort. Another IBM logo, but the whole thing is 3.3 x 8.8 nm. Still not as small as Hitachi's, but smaller than the other IBM logo they cited. They used an atomic force microscope, which is one of the cooler-sounding lab instruments...

      --
      Just junk food for thought...
    2. Re:Summary is misleading... by Matimus · · Score: 1

      The one you cited is 3.3 x 8.8 um (micro-meter) about 1000x larger than the IBM logo in the article.

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    3. Re:Summary is misleading... by Doctor+Memory · · Score: 1

      Arrgh! SI pwns me!

      --
      Just junk food for thought...
    4. Re:Summary is misleading... by jb.hl.com · · Score: 1

      Now all we need is a 90 micron guitarist.

      David Gil-less?

      OK that was bad, even by my standards.

      --
      By summer it was all gone...now shesmovedon. --
  22. Three orders of magnitude... by AJWM · · Score: 2, Informative

    nano-scale artworks. It includes a 15 micron wide badger, a ten micron long guitar (which was actually played) and a 120 micron long New Scientist logo.

    This features are all multi-micron in size. That isn't nano-scale, that's micro-scale, a three orders of magnitude difference. Just because it's small doesn't make it "nano". (Perhaps "nano" is the new "turbo" or "extreme"? Oh no wait, that's "HD".)

    Come back when the features are nanometer size, like this one, or these.

    --
    -- Alastair
    1. Re:Three orders of magnitude... by AJWM · · Score: 1

      Okay, that'll teach me to RTFA. There were two nanoscale images in the article, even if the blurb only mentions the microscale images.

      Sigh.

      --
      -- Alastair
    2. Re:Three orders of magnitude... by clockwork_orange · · Score: 1

      it is acutely nano scale, as the components of the pictures are nanometers in length; like using a pen a few nanometers in radius to draw a picture, E-beam technique talked about in the article can remove single atoms of a structure, when my research group first got our FIB(focused ion beam) we drew a picture of Einstein a few hundred nanometers across, though it was never published.

  23. Song stuck in your head? by GooberToo · · Score: 1

    How cool would it be to stick a nano scale musical instrument into someone's ear so they chronically have a song stuck in their head. Hehehehe... Oh the future of nano pranks... Suddenly the future looks pretty bright.

  24. My favorite one... by Penguinisto · · Score: 1
    My favorite of all time was more of a statement than an art piece. Too bad it's an urban legend...

    /P

    --
    Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
  25. Re:My favorite one... (URL missing... here it is): by Penguinisto · · Score: 1
    --
    Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
  26. Microscope by jlindy · · Score: 1

    I now have a reason to buy a decent microscope... Nano p0rn! Whoo hoo!

    1. Re:Microscope by Mr.+Roadkill · · Score: 1

      I now have a reason to buy a decent microscope... Nano p0rn! Whoo hoo!
      Nano p0rn? That's old hat - take one naked slashdotter, one webcam...
  27. NSREF Links by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Thanks editors, all the links in the summary are NSREF'd. Way to give away free (points, money, whatever) to submitter.
    Posting as AC to not be a karma whore

  28. Finally by SekShunAte · · Score: 0

    a way to accurately draw my penis to scale

  29. Currency by phorm · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I wonder what the cost is to produce these once the initial template is made? I know that many microchips have been found to have microscopic (nanoscopic?) logos and/or designs etched in them. Many countries also include various watermarks etched to microweave in their currency.

    How practical would it be to include an imprint that is only visible to microscope, and have a verification method that depends on checking said imprint (would have to be viewable with somewhat inexpensive microscopes).

  30. Micro- nano- what's the difference... by przemekklosowski · · Score: 2, Informative
    I wish people wouldn't confuse micro and nano. The article did talk about few nanometer-sized contraptions, but many of them were really much larger---several hundred micrometers (um). The cool 10 um guitar is only a tiny bit below being visible by naked eye: human hair thickness is usually between 50-100 um (.05-.1 mm).

    The difference between 10 nm and 10 micrometers is a factor of 1000 difference in size: it's like confusing a wristwatch and Big Ben clock tower watch. Even more importantly, nanoscale objects cross over into a radically different behavior, governed by quantum phenomena and other strange interactions--they can no longer be described as rigid objects subject to Newtonian mechanics.

    Oh, well, I guess this is the New Scientist's answer to sensational journalism in popular press. O tempora, o mores

  31. Re: Tiny Guitar by Naughty+Bob · · Score: 1

    a ten micron long guitar (which was actually played)


    The playable guitar (a Flying V) is 50 microns, 5 times bigger than the (unplayable) 10 micron 'strat' original.

    Not that 50 microns isn't crazily small...
    --
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  32. The Last Mimsy by cylcyl · · Score: 1

    Everyone knows that Intel will be Inside of all future art

    1. Re:The Last Mimsy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Everyone knows that Intel will be Inside of all future art
      In the case of nano-scale art, wouldn't a more appropriate slogan be "Intel Outside"?
  33. I did it! by TheSync · · Score: 2, Interesting

    In college, I made a metal1 layer of my initials "+" my girlfriend's initials in an unused area of a 2um process microchip through MOSIS (the letters were around 100um tall). You could see it in a microscope. She wasn't impressed.

    New girlfriend was acquired shortly thereafter.

  34. There's gotta be a penis somewhere by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Scientist 1: "Come and take a look a look at my nano-penis!"
    Scientist 2: "Put your pants back on."

  35. badger by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    make friends with the badger, the badger is your friend...

  36. nano badgers ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... would be just SO tight

  37. Anna Nichole Smith drawn in gold atoms by BrentRJones · · Score: 1

    is so beautiful.

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